Michael McLeod

Requesting information on recreation leases is something that would fall under MACA. We operate under the Airport Act and the Airport Act requires us to charge full market rate. In this case we are reluctant to transfer this land or sell this land as we have to take the long-term view. Land is very scarce in this area. It’s in the area of where in 50 years we’re going to be in need for more land.

We are trying to confirm whether the water levels are indeed higher than historic years. That is something we can’t confirm. We do agree, though, that high water causes concern on the Peel. It brings all kinds of debris, logs, things that are of safety concerns and we are looking at options. We have discussed a number of different ways that we can try to deal with it. I am not sure we have settled on one form or one solution to accommodate the challenges that high water brings, but we may be looking at a different landing system that may help. But as soon as we have something firm that we...

Mr. Chairman, I referred the question to Mr. Neudorf.

Mr. Chairman, the Member can call it the Jean Marie highway if he prefers. It is an all-season road. I thought I’d clarify that for the Member’s information. It is considered an all-season road. It has a capital budget. It also has an O and M budget. Of course, it needs work. There is a fairly low traffic volume on this road, but we will certainly commit to working with the community in working towards improving the areas of concern. The community does have the contract for maintenance on it.

This land that the Member’s referring to is important to the future development of the airport.

Mr. Chairman, first of all I guess we should point out that we do abide by all the permitting and regulations that are required. The gravel is something that is acceptable. We meet the limits that are allowable in our permitting. We have heard from communities for many years. We have also heard from the MLAs from their ridings. That has been a concern. We are not sure if changing our practice of using gravel would eliminate the build up of gravel in different areas downstream. However, we have heard the concerns. We have started investigating solutions to dealing with that. We drafted some...

Mr. Chairman, there has been as part of our reviews on how to be more efficient and more effective and when one Minister held the position of the three departments that had a lot of capital responsibility we did take a look at the possibilities of how to do things better. One of the things that we looked at was to create one department. It has been looked at. It has not had a detailed review. However, it was decided that at this point we wouldn’t move any further with it. There has been a report drafted for other changes that could be made within the departments to make it more effective and...

Mr. Chairman, I think the route from the junction to Simpson is about 280 kilometres. There has already been 40 chipsealed from Checkpoint and this will add another 70. As we move forward with reconstruction and providing a basin, replacing and improving the drainage systems, we will continue to chipseal as we move forward on that portion of Highway No. 1.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think we’ll all be happy for the community of Colville Lake. I personally had to stand out at the airport and I think it was February when I did a community tour. We’ll be very happy to see this project completed.

Mr. Chairman, if the suggestion the Member is making was viable and feasible, of course we would consider it. Right now, there is a totally different comparison that is being made from Vancouver to Tulita. There is a huge population difference. As the Member has indicated himself, there are companies that are already trying to do it and the demand is not there. There would have to be a chargeback mechanism incorporated into using a ferry.

The ferries in B.C. or any of the coasts that are being referenced here have a charging system in place. Because they have the frequent number of trips and a...