Michael McLeod

Mr. Speaker, we don’t expect the money for Highway No. 7 to go anywhere except on Highway No. 7. I have to agree with the Member that there is a lot of investment that is going to be required over the next while to continue reconstruction of the road. The whole road needs to be reconstructed. It also needs to have a hardtop surface of some sort to protect it. That is going to require further investment.

I know the Member is trying to get some response from me as to what is in the upcoming budget. Mr. Speaker, that is in the process of being drafted.

There are huge needs right across the...

Mr. Speaker, I know that all Members share my interest in doing everything we can to prevent needless deaths and injuries from occurring on our streets and highways. Every injury or loss of life is especially hard on our communities, especially when there is so much we can do to reduce the risks associated with the use of snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATV), and vehicles on our roads and trails.

Two thousand and eleven is the Year of Road Safety in Canada, Mr. Speaker. It is the first year of Canada’s Road Safety Strategy 2015 as well as the

international decade of Road Safety 2020. This is...

[Microphone turned off] transportation report to the Legislative Assembly for 2010 on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1990. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s not very often I get visitors in the gallery so I’d like to welcome Ms. Sylvia Nadli, the award winner for the Wise Women Award for this year. It’s her first time at the Legislative Assembly so I’d like to say welcome and to have safe travels home. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in 1992 the Status of Women Council began presenting the annual Wise Women Awards. This award honours the outstanding women throughout the five regions of the Northwest Territories. Recipients of this prestigious award are described by the Status of Women Council as community role models who demonstrate wisdom, perseverance and deification while standing up for women, children and families in the communities. They strive to make the North a better place to live, to work and to raise families.

Mr. Speaker, this year I’m very pleased to announce that Ms. Sylvia Nadli has been...

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to update Members and the public on the Community Access Program administered by the Department of Transportation.

Communities and residents are benefiting greatly from this program, especially in our small rural and remote communities.

The Community Access Program provides funding contributions to communities for local access roads, trails and winter roads to nearby attractions such as hunting, fishing and wood gathering areas and recreational sites. The 16th Legislative Assembly significantly expanded this program through the Refocusing Government...

Thank you. It’s a difficult situation we’re in. We have our contractors that are listening to this discussion, we’ve already been contacted by the contractors raising concerns over some of the Member’s comments that are in the contract. There’s a proprietary issue that we’re dealing with here. These issues are dealt with in the contract. I’m not in a position to disclose it at this time, Mr. Speaker. I’ll have to reassure the Member that these issues were things that were taken into consideration. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A diversified economy providing opportunities to all communities and regions, along with sustainable, vibrant, safe communities are the two goals of this Legislative Assembly. An all-weather highway running the length of the Mackenzie Valley will be a major step in achieving those goals. The Government of the Northwest Territories continues to do work to prepare for the future construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway to Tuktoyaktuk. Since I last updated this Assembly on the highway, we made significant progress.

Through the government’s efforts, we have secured the...

We are closely tracking all expenditures. We have a breakdown, we have cash flow charts, we have variances, we have spreadsheets that provide all the information that the Member has brought forward, we have a breakdown of the budget by various components, we provide year-to-year expenditures on each item and we forecast each expenditure to the completion of the project, so we do have all the information and we do track it very closely. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, Transportation and our officials track all expenditures and have the monthly reports, the daily reports and the annual auditing of all revenues and expenditures. Thank you.