Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I want to take a different approach with this. And so if I remember correctly, there was a correction facility built in Inuvik even when -- and it was targeted for youth, in other words. And it might have been a good project from its inception, so the genesis of the project is, hey, let's provide some stuff in Inuvik. And that's okay, and that's good. But then if I remember correctly -- again, I'm stressing if I remember it -- the Youth Justice Act changed and the facility at the time was called Arctic Tern. So they marched ahead even though they knew Arctic Tern would be obsolete by the time they cut the ribbon, that the Act had changed. And this is the cynicism the general public has with their politicians and their governments which is even when we know things are changing -- this is nothing to do with the merits of the project at the time. They're probably very valuable. But to say we have a contract or we got some federal money and we're going to do this anyway even though we know it becomes obsolete and don't worry, we'll turn it into something, is what people get frustrated by and they think of it as waste.
Now, I don't want to characterize waste in any way with the support system that may have been implied or initiated at this facility because when the initial proposal was consented upon to move forward, it probably was seen of great value and necessary. And I think that that merits may stand and speak for themselves. But that said, the government has initiated a process to close this facility and to have the appearance of buying assets and upgrades to a facility that's closing, I think kind of meets that definition of why the public is frustrated, or gets frustrated.
Now, I'm not a contract expert but I do understand enough, like most people, that when you have something in writing that, you know, there's a commitment. But I would feel very uncomfortable knowing that we've committed to a project that doesn't have a purpose. To buy a van to sit there in the driveway in hopes that one day, I would ask -- you know, I would be looking -- I'll have some questions for the Minister in a second but, you know, I would ask the question outloud saying is there a way we can defer this purchase for a more appropriate one? Maybe somebody else needs the van. Maybe it could go to some of the assets that burnt in Enterprise. I don't know what the right answer is. I'm not saying it's that easy, and I understand that. I'm just trying to say is we need to think out of the box on these things.
Does the intercom system still need its urgency? In other words, is it cheaper to pay to get out than to keep paying and have nothing in the end that who knows what'll happen? And I think that's the frustration here. It's not about it's going to Fort Smith. That is not the issue whatsoever. It's just we don't know where it's ever going to go. And if it's going to be sitting there in a shuttered facility, that's the frustration the public would have for us knowing that.
Now, as my good colleague for Range Lake had said, you know, we don't have anything in writing. And I'm grateful for an open discussion and dialogue with the community about how we can maybe find our way through this fog, and I think that's a fantastic thing. I mean, I believe in community employment, and we should inspire opportunities every chance we get. But to be telling the people of Fort Smith, specifically to tell the people of the correctional centre, that don't worry, we'll make you counsellors, it's really hard to imagine it's that simple. And even if it was that simple, they'll be sitting a long time before that actually happens. And, you know, no one is in -- no one in this room, frankly -- and I'll stress it again -- there's not a single person in this room that can tell me that the expertise lie in the sense that we'll turn guards to counsellors and we'll turn cinder blocks into healing rooms very easily. I mean, look at the trouble we're having in Fort Smith already with respect to an old residential school experience and people demand the symbolism of that to be torn down. The symbolism. I am in no position to say that that's wrong, but I can tell you it bothers people and they need to be heard.
Even the symbolism of a jail now being a place for healing causes me some, as they call it a Gordian knot, a very complex way of thinking through this thing. I don't know if you can unthread that knot. It's just difficult.
So now to my question to the Minister -- and I appreciate everyone listening to this, by the way, but it's important to think of it this way -- is there any way to pause this expenditure until we have some clarity? And it's not about spending money in Fort Smith. I want to make sure the good Member for Thebacha understands that. I want the good Member for Thebacha to understand that we're sympathetic, and we want to help you find ways to stimulate the community; there's not an issue there whatsoever. But spending money in a facility that we know, openly, is not going to be used is the challenge. So is there a way to the finance Minister to pause the actual purchasing or furthering of any contract until we really do have a plan in place that we know and understand and we're buying into? Thank you.