Michael McLeod

Mr. Chairman, we will be replacing some sections of the chipseal that is damaged and is causing some issues with safety from Checkpoint on to Simpson.

We’ve committed to provide that information. We will provide the information to the Members as soon as the reconciliation of the audit is done. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, we don’t disagree with the Member. We’ve used the very same arguments that he’s laid out and it doesn’t change the fact that we need $1.8 billion plus O and M to put this project forward. We continue to make those arguments. We meet with the federal government on a regular basis. We will be meeting again with several of the federal Ministers in early November and we will put the arguments forward. We’ve included it in all our reports to the federal government. We’ve also laid out the needs, we’ve laid out the arguments, and we think we’re moving forward into a better position to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There’s never a question that’s too stupid. Mr. Chairman, the Member is asking a question that’s outside of the capital plan that’s in front of us and we don’t have the specific detail, but the answer to his question is no, we’re not planning to replace the area that he is talking about.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s good to see a Member consistent in these questions on the Deh Cho Bridge. The Deh Cho Bridge is proceeding very well. Over the summer months we’ve achieved our targets for the summer construction. The steel is en route and we’re expecting to start seeing the superstructure starting to be put up in the next little while.

As to the report that the Member is referencing, the draft is completed. We’re now doing a reconciliation with staff on it and we don’t anticipate there’s going to be any additional cost to the government. Thank you.

The work that we’re doing right now is trying to capture all the needs in terms of project description reports for the whole of the Mackenzie Valley Highway all the way up to Tuk from Wrigley. We expect to have all that information. We’ve given ourselves a two-year window to gather all that. Some areas are progressing faster than others. We’ve also completed an economic analysis on the whole Mackenzie Valley Highway system. It’s come back positive. With all the information we’ve gathered, we feel we’re in a very good position to move forward.

We have to recognize, of course, that it can’t be...

Mr. Chairman, the money included in this budget is not for new chipseal. This is for replacement. That’s what is identified in this capital plan.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m assuming the Member is referring to our application to P3 Canada to do some research in the area of financial investigation in ways we can be creative in trying to get the projects in the Northwest Territories to meet the criteria under the P3 Canada program. There are a number of projects we have looked at and right now don’t feel they meet the criteria but have good potential. We’ve asked for some dollars to investigate the process, with the aid of some financial experts. We have not received any word as to the status of that application and hopefully we’ll have...

Mr. Chairman, this has been an issue that’s been raised on a number of occasions by the MLA for that constituency. It has also been raised by the chiefs and a number of the leadership, concerns over the amount of gravel that’s being used. We’ve agreed that we need to deal with this issue. It’s part of the process that we’ve embarked on to renew our licence. In 2002 the study was done and it showed that there’s really no issue on the amount of gravel that was being used, however, we want to be able to give comfort to the people who live in that area. We’re looking at alternate methods; maybe...

Mr. Chairman, the Main Street Dust Control Program was a program initiated by MACA. It was funded by MACA and the Department of Transportation provided the support and technical information and we continue to do a lot of the same kind of work that we did with that program, even though that program has sunsetted. We are in communication with several communities. We are talking to the community of Fort McPherson in the Member’s riding. We are also providing support to the community of Fort Providence, which is chipsealing all their roads next year. We’re also going to be communicating with the...