Michael McLeod

Mr. Speaker, yes, we are looking at ways we can do things better and more efficient. We’re looking at trying to incorporate some hybrid vehicles. We do have plug-ins in the communities that allow us to use them. We’re looking at smart programs, smart driving programs for our employees that will require them to shut off their vehicles rather than leaving them running. We’re looking at putting remote heaters in some of our larger equipment so they don’t have to idle for long periods of time. So there’s a number of things we’re doing. We’re also trying to incorporate alternate energy systems for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the newspaper article referenced some initiatives that were taken by our Department of Transportation to look at reducing energy use. As part of the energy conservation action plan that was tabled in this House by our Premier, our intent with that initiative was to look at the concept of finding a way of rewarding people who used energy-efficient vehicles. It was not intended to look at increasing the cost of registration for vehicles that are of high consumption, but rather to look at what can be done to encourage use of vehicles that use less energy or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am honoured today to recognize my wife, Judy, up in the gallery…

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…and my sister-in-law, Debbie. Welcome.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have titled my Member’s statement today, What do I Tell Them? Sometimes in our duties as MLAs we receive many questions from constituents on the way our government does business. What do I tell them, Mr. Speaker, when the decisions in attitude puzzles even me? What do I tell family when they want to know why their mother and grandmother didn’t return home? Do I tell them she was improperly transported when she came to Yellowknife for a medical appointment? What are we supposed to tell frontline workers and people needing treatment that a consultant...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will commit to having that discussion with the municipalities. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the question was raised by the Member. We are planning to have that discussion with the NWT Association of Communities. There has been no formal request to have this reform take place as of yet, and we will do follow-up once that discussion takes place if there is a desire from that association to move forward on it. Thank you.

So the authorization came from the Minister, he states. So I'd like to know, who gave the Minister his direction. Did he consult with the regions? I think that to say the decision came from him, I'd like to ask, then, who did the Minister get his direction from? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in order for us to, as a government, consider a gravel stockpile and to bring in equipment or to contract that out, we need to have specific projects. I recognize the Member’s need to work towards building a road system to the source of gravel. It is a problem for the community of Tuktoyaktuk. We recognize that. There has been a large request for a large contribution from the community that we have considered. We are not able to accommodate it. We have continued to realize that there is a need for a reliable source. However, in order to have a...

Mr. Speaker, the gravel revolving stockpile fund was wound down in 1999. Investment for gravel requirements have been built into the municipal community government budgets. In the case of Tuktoyaktuk, there are no specific projects that we can point to at this point. I don’t have any listed that require gravel. We don’t have any plans to bring any stockpile into that community either from the Department of Transportation or from MACA. Having said that, there is a need across the Territories for assistance to look at the issue of gravel. We are working with other departments to put...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been ongoing growth in private and commercial vehicle use due to resource development. The climate is warming and bringing more precipitation and more variable weather patterns. Our transportation infrastructure is aging. The severity of each of these factors is expected to increase into the future. These factors are forcing the department to increase the operation and maintenance efforts.

Mr. Speaker in the past, the department’s own maintenance forces worked a standard 40-hour week, Monday through Friday. Maintenance requirements occurring in...