Tom Beaulieu

Of course, we’re continuing the maintenance work on the highway and making Highway No. 7 as passable as possible. We’re always striving to improve that road. So, with this money we’re also going to improve any areas where there have been problems. The people know exactly which areas are problems, and for the first package of work that we intend to do we intend to spend an additional $12 million over the next four years. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department has quietly spent $12 million on Highway No. 7 to date.

---Laughter

For this coming year, we have $3 million in the capital plan and we’re going to concentrate on that serious area that the Member referred to, kilometres 169 to 170. We’re fixing that area. A lot of that money is going to go to strengthening the road from Liard to approximately where the Nahanni Butte turnoff is, and also there’s some finishing work still to be completed between Liard and the BC border. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We will look at that solution. We will have our engineers… I suppose it will have to do with the city, also. The engineers and the city will take a look at that, the flashing light.

Yes, we do.

Again, I can reiterate the fact that we will continue to work with MACA and HSS to develop some sort of emergency highway coverage. We’re working with the highway emergency and learning protocol, like I’ve indicated previously. We think it’s needed. It’s a matter of figuring out the logistics of how, how to do it. So, I mean, once the three departments are able to determine whose responsibility this would lie under. Right now it’s shared. The responsibility appears to be shared. We’re responsible for the highway, MACA is responsible for the municipal service that has the emergency vehicle, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We determine price by the actual price of the products and the transportation of those products and, of course, the distribution once they are in the community. We look at those and, recognizing that the fuel was not actually in the community yet, we are looking at the rack price of fuel down south and when we are going to buy, anticipating the transportation costs in there, and we were very comfortable with the reduction. We could anticipate more reductions, as well, later on in this winter road season. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Recently, the Member and I spoke to the mayor of Aklavik on the Willow River Bridge. Three-quarters of the bridge is in Inuvik and a quarter of that bridge is still sitting in Fort St. John. The plan is, of course, to bring that bridge and place it over the river, bridge the river with it. That’s what we’re hoping to do and that’s what the community wants to do to have that access road to the gravel source.

Right now, since we’ve had the discussion, our people in the Beaufort-Delta, DOT people have been talking to the community and we’re finding we’re getting more...

Mr. Speaker, in support of our Government’s NWT Biomass Energy and Greenhouse Gas Strategies, the promotion and use of biomass technologies remains a priority for this government in its efforts to reduce energy costs and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

With the ability to reduce the fossil fuel usage of a building by 80 to 90 percent, the Department of Public Works and Services’ early adoption of, and continued use of, renewable biomass energy technology is something I wish to highlight today.

By March 31st of this year, the Department will have installed 22 biomass systems in seven...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We agree that the ferry operations in the Beaufort-Delta went very well this year. I do believe traffic was closed for one day only. I’m sorry, I had an understanding it was only closed for one day for regular traffic. The deputy minister tells me it was actually eight days. I don’t know if that was heavy traffic. I guess on average we were closed for eight days.

The aviation scholarship is something that people do benefit from. We do have a reduction in that scholarship this year, but we’re also re-examining how we can use that scholarship money.

Investment in the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I agree with the Member. The contractors in the Sahtu that build the winter roads do a good job, a good job of maintaining it. Some years, depending on the volumes of snowfall largely determines some of the conditions. There is heavy snowfall at times, so the grading that is scheduled inside the contracts can’t keep up. On the other hand, sometimes there is a minimal amount of snowfall and that causes some of the road to be rough. We have to work with the conditions, do an estimate on what we think the standard is. We pretty well know. For example, last year people weren...