David Ramsay

Mr. Chair, yes. We have a priority to maintain the main highway system here in the NWT. I’m aware of the Member’s request for the department to maintain that access that was previously there prior to the construction and opening of the Deh Cho Bridge last November. We have a letter that is going to be coming to the Member, suggesting that the community look at opportunities through the funding that they have, the Community Opportunities Fund that’s funded on an annual basis by the GNWT, and I had a chance to discuss that letter earlier with the Member.

I will go back to the department and see...

Yes, thank you. We are aware of the situation in Trout Lake when it comes to the use of the snow blower. We believe there probably are more effective ways to deal with it and it all comes down to the amount of snow load in a community, but I don’t know if there’s more of a technical response. Mr. Chairman, perhaps I could go to the deputy minister for that.

Let me be as clear as I can be – and I’ve mentioned it before – without the use of hydraulic fracking, there will be no development in the Sahtu, there will be no jobs or opportunities. That is why it’s critically important that we get this right. I know other Members have mentioned this; we can’t afford to get it wrong. We have to do everything we can, and certainly from the inception of the development, the activity that’s taken place in the Sahtu, this government has taken that opportunity very seriously. We’ve met a number of times. I know through the Department of Industry, Tourism and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A couple of things. First of all, we do firmly believe in the economic future of the Sahtu region, central Mackenzie Valley and the importance of not only having a winter road down the Mackenzie Valley but also advancing, at every turn, an all-weather road down the Mackenzie Valley. You need to look at the Corridors for Canada III proposal to see that we’re serious about investing in a big way into the Sahtu. We’re looking at the Bear River Bridge, the Oscar Creek Bridge, Bosworth Creek Bridge, and I’ve mentioned it before, but my goal is to envision to have a winter...

The design continually changes in a way to address and mitigate climate change. As I mentioned, the runway repair back 10 years ago, the materials that were used, I mean, we’re learning something with every repair we do here in the Northwest Territories on what works best. Again, it’s all in an effort to mitigate the impact. Thank you.

No, the Department of Transportation takes very seriously the safety of our roads and the Member may be… When we were there, maybe it was the Corridors for Canada III proposal where we do have money for all highways in the Northwest Territories on a go-forward basis. We are anticipating we will be getting some success with that proposal and we’ll have the ability to address concerns from around the territory, including Highway No. 8. Thank you.

The issues with the runways have been ongoing for a number of years. Again, we are trying our best to mitigate those issues with our runways, and they are O and M. We treat them as O and M. In the case of Hay River, the repairs to the Hay River runway, I think we were in the magnitude of $2 million, maybe just slightly over $2 million. As I mentioned earlier, the complete fix for the dip in the Inuvik runway at the end of the day is going to be about $2.5 million. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As Members know, the facility has reached its end of service life and generally is in fair to poor condition. We had an issue last winter with a wind storm and the building suffered some damage as a result of that. So we need to move forward. Our long-term plan is to build a new air terminal building in Inuvik, so part of the process is to get a planning study underway. The money is going to hopefully be coming through the Corridors for Canada III proposal. Again, that’s a proposal, but we’re looking to build a new air terminal building in Inuvik and this is just part...

Two things with the Inuvik Airport, through the Corridors for Canada III proposal we are looking at a new terminal building for Inuvik. That’s a very positive move forward. Also the Member has talked about climate change and the impact it’s had on the runway in Inuvik, and we just recently experienced a dip in the runway and we had to provide an immediate fix. That immediate fix cost about $600,000. It will be a total repair of about $2.5 million when all is said and done on that runway.

We continue to have discussions with the Department of National Defence on extending the runway in Inuvik...

Mr. Chair, I thank the Member for the question. The wood pellet boiler that’s to be installed at the terminal building is budgeted to cost $750,000. It’s estimated to displace 320,000 litres of propane annually, generating an annual savings of $80,000 and a payback period of 9.4 years. Greenhouse gas emissions would be greatly reduced and, in fact, by 477 tonnes on an annual basis. Thank you.