Tom Beaulieu

The solution most likely lies outside the jurisdiction of the Minister of Transportation; however, we will meet with the city. We will talk to our MACA counterparts. If there’s going to be a new hotel built in there, maybe there’s a solution where there could be a trail coming off this end of the Niven Lake development, coming into the area near the Explorer. That’s the only solution.

Any time you start having traffic on a road that has fast-moving vehicles, it is an unsafe situation. It would be similar to just having people walk on the road down Franklin as opposed to walking on the sidewalk...

Mr. Speaker, I apologize for not answering the question the first time. We have been looking for a solution. It’s a very difficult situation. The thing is that we have to get the people from the Niven side of the road to this side of the road, on this side of the Assembly at some point before they get to the rock cliff on which the Explorer sits, because at that point there’s no more room on that side of the road. So at any time you get walking traffic, people who are walking across the road, which was fairly high speed traffic right up to here – it was 60 kilometres – so the signs were moved...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Bill 49, An Act to Amend the Deh Cho Bridge Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill amends the Deh Cho Bridge Act to make use of terminology that is more consistent with the Motor Vehicles Act, remove provisions concerning annual reporting with respect to collection of tolls for each fiscal year, clarify when drivers and owners of motor vehicles are liable for non-payment of tows, clarify powers and duties of a transport officer, add provisions that allow the admissibility of evidence of camera...

If that’s a new project, then it will have to come to the House for approval. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re going to meet with the city, myself and the MACA folks. I’ve been sitting here arranging something where we can get together and sit down and meet with the city. We want to come up with a solution. I don’t want to stand here and say that the solution is for us to fix it and give the road to the city. That is something that I think we’re going to work on together. Thank you.

Like I indicated, there’s no easy solution. Even if we were to build an underpass, again, that would be fine for individuals returning to Niven because they would be facing traffic and then going under the underpass to get home to their proper side or the Niven side of the road. But that doesn’t solve the issue of the people coming to the city because their backs will be to the traffic. Then, as most people know, the highway becomes sort of a three lane as you turn into the Legislative Assembly and the museum. So, again, that’s a little bit of an unsafe area for pedestrians to be walking.

At...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back in 2011 there was a Public Transit Fund that was given to the city to try to resolve the issue of the crossing at Niven Lake. After carefully examining the project – they were looking at an underpass, actually – after carefully examining that and having some difficulty with getting some land on the Niven Lake side of the road, it was determined to be unfeasible and the money was spent on another transit project within the city. Thank you.

Like I indicated, we will meet with the City of Yellowknife. If a solution is for the City of Yellowknife to improve the road, if it needs improvement and it’s agreed on this side of the House and that side of the House that we can do a supplementary appropriation to pay for the road that’s been rebuilt to standard by the city, then that’s the direction we’ll go. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We could look at the information, the science behind the production of liquefied natural gas, as a government and report back to the House on our findings.

Thank you. Certainly, we would take the lead in the initiative. Again, we would work with other departments that are involved in the industry. Thank you.