Tom Beaulieu

The solution would most likely be a capital solution, and we will work with the city and see if there is a possibility that we could bring something forward in the next capital plan. We know that almost any solution would be an expensive solution. Any time you have people crossing a highway, walking across a highway, it‘s not a safe thing to be doing. So, it‘s a solution that will likely be costly if we want to safely cross a highway.

This answer requires a little detail and I’ll ask the deputy minister to respond to that.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Building Canada Plan that we have been working with that we’re getting very close to rolling out does not include any expenditures to the Mackenzie Valley Highway. The national Infrastructure Fund, which is also under the umbrella of the Building Canada Plan, is again a different pot of money coming from the federal government. That is where we have our proposal. We’re trying to draw down some of that money. That is a $700 million proposal that we put in front of the federal government all to go towards the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

We’ll look into that alternative solution the Member brings to our attention.

Madam Chair, there will be three or four bundles on the overall plan, Building Canada Plan. In the first bundle, it will be discussed in this session. There is no money in that bundle for the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Thank you, Madam Chair. To my right is Deputy Minister Russell Neudorf, Department of Transportation. To my left is the assistant deputy minister of the Department of Transportation, Daniel Auger; and to my far right, director of corporate services, Jim Martin, Department of Transportation.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The main money that we hope to spend on the Mackenzie Valley Highway is in a separate proposal to Canada under the national Infrastructure Fund. We are also seeking some money from CanNor, which is another pot of money that’s outside of the O and M that we’re discussing here today.

Like I indicated, we are doing a lot of the legwork, environmental assessment. We’ve looked at some of the roads, some of the planning that’s needed to build the highway to Whati. However, it’s based on whether or not we have the ability to borrow money to build that road. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We may have that information here but it’s a fairly standard amount. Each year we go out, or in blocks of time we go out to tender to maintain all our highways, and the contract to maintain Highway No. 7 would be similar to what has occurred previously. If you give us a minute, perhaps we’re able to find the amount.

We have the amount. It’s $800,000.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I do.