Mr. Silver: I have a question for the Minister of Highways and Public Works on the Dawson City waste-water treatment plant. The new facility is now operating and due to be turned over to the City of Dawson in August of this year. The city has expressed concerns about this rapidly approaching hand-off for numerous reasons. Frustration with the project reached new levels recently when the plant malfunctioned and sewage spilt into the street.

There have been repeated requests for more training and a longer period of time to ensure that the town has a good handle on what operation and maintenance costs will be before the facility is handed over.

Will the facility be turned over to the municipality as planned in August of this year whether the municipality wants it or not?

Mr. Silver: The issue of new hospitals has been in the news lately and for all the wrong reasons. The government has been roundly criticized for poor planning and poor financial management of the two new hospital projects in rural Yukon. The Auditor General of Canada’s report on the mistakes the government made is quite a read.

The centrepiece of this year’s budget is a $27-million bailout of the Yukon Hospital Corporation to clean up the financial mess that has been created. Once the hospitals are finished they will need to be staffed. When the government decided to build these facilities there was no plan in place to staff either one of them.

Will the Minister of Health and Social Services confirm that nurses from Whitehorse General Hospital have been asked to work in the new hospital in Dawson because there are not enough nurses to staff the facility?

Whitehorse: An announcement that the private sector will take over tours of the S.S. Klondike and Dredge #4 is disappointing but not a surprise, says Klondike MLA Sandy Silver.  He says it is simply confirmation our Member of Parliament was unable to convince his bosses in Ottawa to reverse cuts made a year ago at Parks Canada.

Whitehorse:  As the clock strikes March there is still no word from the Minister of Tourism or Yukon’s Member of Parliament regarding the future of Parks Canada services for the upcoming summer, says Klondike MLA Sandy Silver.  In a January 21^st conference call MP Ryan Leef told stakeholders they would be kept in the loop on his lobbying efforts and that an announcement would be made no later than March 1^st.

Whitehorse:  Interim Liberal Leader Sandy Silver is calling on Public Works Minister Wade Istchenko to extend the handoff of the Dawson Wastewater Treatment Project to the City of Dawson indefinitely.  Silver is making the request on the heels of the latest incident at the facility that saw the system malfunction on February 2^nd.

Whitehorse:  Klondike MLA Sandy Silver is disappointed Premier Pasloski didn’t include cuts to Parks Canada services on his list of agenda items, when he met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.  A news release from the Government of Yukon listed several other items but failed to mention the future of the S.S. Klondike or Dredge #4.

Whitehorse:  Klondike MLA Sandy Silver is urging the Government of Yukon to rethink a plan to name the new health care facility in Dawson City, the Dawson City Community Hospital.  Community consultations last fall produced Father Judge Memorial Hospital as the preferred name.

Whitehorse:  Saying he has heard loud and clear from constituents that they don’t support it, Klondike MLA Sandy Silver is urging the Minister of Education to withdraw proposed changes to the school calendar.

Whitehorse:  It’s time for Premier Pasloski to finalize the transfer of the Top of the World Golf Course to the City of Dawson and to end the battle he started with community members, says Klondike MLA Sandy Silver.

Whitehorse:  Interim Liberal Leader Sandy Silver welcomed today’s announcement that the Yukon Legislative Assembly will reconvene on October 25.