Wally Schumann

I am not aware of there being any delays on this. We historically had these ferries in by June 2nd, so I believe we are on schedule. As I said, I can check into the Transport Canada inspection issue and see if there is an issue and relay that to the Member.

Certainly, I can follow up with that. I would like to add one more comment, I guess. It's up to the SSI if they want to have youth involvement. Myself, I can reach out to the SSI leadership and have these discussions on possibilities of having youth involvement in this, and I would encourage the Member and all Members to encourage the SSI leadership maybe to include future leadership people or youth people who want to be involved in this thing going forward.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The MoU that was signed between SSI and ourselves, the Sahtu Secretariat, was intended to formalize the working relationship between parties on the advancement of the Mackenzie Valley Highway through the environmental and regulatory reviews. The MoU provides for the creation of a working group with members of working group to be appointed by the SSI and the Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Infrastructure. Each party to the MoU is responsible for selecting its own members to the working group. SSI is responsible for appointing its own members to the...

As I said, currently, phase 1 is scheduled to be completed by end of May. That is phase 1, and we will be notifying the public when we are doing the other stuff. Neither the Yellowknife airport nor the Department of Infrastructure has received any complaints on this matter. We are not aware of any flights being delayed or any passengers who have missed their flights. Travellers have cooperated and have been arriving early to avoid congestion. We have been monitoring the passenger flow, and the interim system has been functioning well.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have the notes here. Thank you to the Member for giving us the heads-up on this. I am going to take the opportunity to actually let the public know what we are actually doing out there. These renovations are part of a larger project. The whole baggage-screening recapitalization, which is funded by CATSA, which is the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, the funding was approved in December of 2018. The contract for the building modifications included the renovations to the oversized screening area, to level 2 and level 3 screening areas. For those of you who do...

As the Member knows, he has asked me this question before in the House, and, with climate change in effect, we are monitoring these things very closely. We are looking at all options, up- and downstream, particularly at Fort Simpson right now. Being in the fiscal situation we are in, if I had the required funding, we could probably pursue some of these things, but I think we are going to have to continue to monitor the situation and look at all options going forward.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly will contact the responsible authority to accurately survey the river. We can do that around the ferry landings and the possible alternative routes. As I said in my previous comments here with the Fort McPherson ferry, low water is going to be an issue. We know that already because of the way things are looking. The one thing about the Fort Simpson ferry and that crossing, there is so much silt and gravel in that thing that the conditions can change on a regular basis and in a very short period of time, and there is also the gravel bar issue that is in the...

As I have said, historically, these have on average been in place by June 2nd, so, if we have them in by next week, we could be in as early as four or five days earlier than average.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The staff are out there working and doing their due diligence. I would have to get back to the Member on the exact timing that Transport Canada will be in there to do their stuff, but, from my indication, what I have gotten from the department so far is that we are on schedule to have both the Louis Cardinal and Abraham Francis ferries in the water and operational by next week.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following four documents entitled "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 502-18(3), Avalon Nechalacho Rare Earth Elements Project"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 567-18(3), Ice Bridges and Roadside Assistance"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 650-18(3), Sachs Harbour Power Generation"; and "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 670-18(3), Significant Discovery Licences."

On behalf of the Minister of Health and Social Services, I wish to table the following eight documents entitled "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 574-18(3): Mental Health Services Wait...