Thank you, Mr. Speaker. "We are the prisoners." Mr. Speaker, those are words spoken to me by my constituents who live next to the North Slave Correctional Facility. Over the summer months, they have been bothered by frequent noise late into the evening, and almost direct interaction with inmates, only a stone's throw away from their backyards, Mr. Speaker: catcalls from the inmates at their children and living in concern of a perceived unsafe situation, especially after last year's incident where an inmate escaped the facility.

Now, I know the Minister and his department have been diligent at responding to these concerns, with the construction of the extension of the current perimeter fence that has begun during the week of September the 11th and will be completed in another week or so. Now, if everything goes according to plan, this six-foot extension should discourage individuals from unintentionally crossing onto the private property of residents, while also creating a certain degree of additional privacy for residents. With this, I am sure my constituents will be very happy.

What does not make them happy, Mr. Speaker, and certainly also does not make me happy, is that the tender for the installation of the additional barriers needed to address the security flaw that enabled the escape of an NSCC inmate has been cancelled. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre brought this up earlier this week, and largely, this is due to the fact that the bids that were received were well in excess of the appropriated budget.

Now, I am very concerned that we are only hoping to address this situation. Those are the words of the Minister; "hoped" that it gets addressed. This is a public safety concern, and my residents have a right to be concerned about their safety and their level of comfort in a residential neighbourhood that this government had a part in creating.

I hope that the Minister takes this situation seriously and will do everything possible to ensure that these security improvements are put in place. I will have questions for him later today, and I hope he has the answers. Thank you.