Michael McLeod

Mr. Chairman, the relationship we have with the MAC Group is through the Gwich’in Tribal Council and the president. They have had some discussions with myself and also with some of our staff and demonstrated an interest in doing some of the project description report work that we’d like to see done that’s within their traditional area. They have indicated to us that they are getting close to some kind of agreement that would see some investment from the federal government and they’ve asked us to stay in touch with them or to see if we’d be interested. I believe our Premier has given them a...

Mr. Chairman, I am certainly glad that the Member has recognized that there is a need for more money in our budget. Of course, once again, it is a matter of where our priorities are. We certainly could have set up our budget a little differently, but there is so much need right across the Territories.

Our goal was to try to target investment on all our road systems. We also had a number of ACAP program projects that we used to improve our airport and we also had the federal government come forward and announce some projects in Nunakput for the air terminals. Mr. Chairman, it is a matter of how...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are a number of issues being raised here. First of all, the contract for Blackwater. I am sure the Member heard the disappointment in my voice when I responded to the question and especially the comments made that he was not happy with the government not responding.

Mr. Chairman, at the Member’s request, we did carve out a portion for earth works, so it would be negotiated with the community. We did also extend the deadline for the contract. We also responded to his request for a negotiated contract. We found extra dollars so we could negotiate the contract. The...

Mr. Chairman, it was always understood and it was in the agreement that we would be providing this portion of the toll collection. As to why it wasn’t, I wasn’t actually at the negotiating table, so I couldn’t tell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I can commit to the Member that we can do an analysis of what the cost would be to apply different types of dust suppression and highway top, whether chipseal or Easy Street asphalt, and look at the cost, look at the benefits and look at the possibilities, and share that information with the Member and have a discussion before next year’s budget. We are still at a point where we don’t know what the actual cost and benefit would be from Easy Street. The product is manufactured in Alberta and it’s quite a distance to truck it all the way to the Dempster. So we’d have to see if...

Mr. Chairman, under our responsibilities and under the conditions of the concession agreement, it falls under our responsibility to develop and to design and supply, install, upgrade and manage the whole toll system. There are two components to the toll system. In the capital budget, we have already received approval for the $400,000 for last year. This year, we are looking for an additional $600,000 in this budget. There are two areas that will be considered or will be invested in. This is, first of all, to do with vehicle counts and classification. For the most part, that has already been...

Mr. Chairman, the Member is correct; I think historically we have had some challenges filling some of the positions for engineers and project managers. Our senior staff over the last year or so have really worked hard to improve that. We had the opportunity to hire a number of people in the technical area. I think we’re probably better positioned now with the people that we’ve brought on stream and some of the work being contracted out. So we are in a good position to move forward. We don’t expect it’s going to cause a lot of concern now that we’ve staffed up.

I have to admit, though, that...

I’ll certainly convey that to our officials, that this building better be done by the end of November. I should point out, though, the building is still usable and the community certainly can take advantage of it. We are very aware that they were very frustrated with some of the issues that came forward, but we’re working very hard to get it all addressed, for the most part. Except for the floor, I think everything’s done and we will ensure that it’s completed by the end of November. We will inform the Member that we want to move forward and have an official opening at some point. We already...

Mr. Speaker, the work that was done was under, as the Member indicated, warranty. There are some deficiencies that have been addressed and there are going to be more that are going to be required. They are going to all be covered through the warranty period. Notification has been provided to the subcontractors of the contractors that were involved and we’re dealing with the issue. Thank you.

There is certainly no shortage of will on this side, and I’m sure if I did let it slip, the Member would be quick to remind me. The Aklavik road right now, a project description report for that project is something that we want to see move forward. We want to be able to contact the community quickly. There are programs out there like the Community Adjustment Fund that we feel we can tap into. We’d like to package that up into a proposal with a business case and take it to the next steps. We’d like to move that forward as quickly as possible and we’d be very pleased to include the Member in all...