Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the question is, "Have I ever driven the road?" Of course, I've driven that road. I live in Hay River. I've been over there probably every month. I see the condition of the road. This Member has asked me questions about the road conditions there before. I've stated in this House the work that has commenced on there around drainage and these types of things and some geotechnical work. That work has been completed. That will feed into what our next plans are to do with that section of highway. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That's a discussion maybe I'm going to have to sit down and have with the chair of standing committee, because this is something that I haven't found to be an issue. It's a public offering. We have the list. A number of these people are quite capable and, you know, there are some specific things, specific asks, I believe, in that request of stuff. There are certain entrepreneurs in the Northwest Territories who aren't quite capable of doing these specific things. It's a tool that the Government of Northwest Territories has to be able to address some of those situations we have here. Thank you...

First of all, I answered the question last week, where the Member ended it saying that was an error, and I said that this isn't an error. This is a combination of a whole bunch of factors. When I do my Minister's statement tomorrow, I will clearly lay it out.

There are certainly lessons learned from this thing. I am not saying that the department is not going to learn something from this. Of course, we are going to learn something from this. I think with the announcement that we just did in Hay River around the double-hull barges, it is going to help alleviate some of the situation. I referred...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I want to update the House a little bit on what I know what is going on today. The tenders have been awarded, and I believe the first flight is going into Paulatuk probably today, hauling fuel, so that process is under way.

As far as Sachs Harbour, the Member e-mailed me asking me about Sachs Harbour for fuel. I have looked into that matter, and Sachs Harbour has significant gasoline in their community, so that isn't an issue.

As far as where we are going to recover the cost of funding this operation, the fuel is going to come out of the POL revolving...

No, this air-lift will not affect future rates. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The fuel situation is part of the delay, and tomorrow I'm doing a Minister's statement on the whole issue around this marine, MTS, and the supply and stuff. We will be updating the House there. I am actually going to reach out to committee and ask them if they want a briefing on this whole issue.

The fuel that caused some of the delays this year was not even fuel for us. It was for a customer. It was shipped to Hay River via the railroad, and it did not meet spec when it reached there. Then we are not talking like 5, 10 gallons of fuel here. We are talking about hundreds of millions of litres...

Mr. Speaker, our government is following through on its commitment to invest in transportation infrastructure by strengthening connections with our federal partners.

Improving our existing highway system helps to keep communities connected while improving safety for all road users. This also provides jobs and fosters skills and capacity development for all Northerners. Today, I am pleased to provide an update on many highway improvements that were undertaken this year.

Mr. Speaker, we have improved more than 200 kilometres of highway this summer, including three community access roads and three...

I want to remind the House of last year, this exact situation. We committed to having a newer, lighter equipment to facilitate the winter road system. We have that machine up and ready and we were training our staff again in the region.

Last year, if I remember the dates between, in the Member's riding, I think the river closed on the 4th and the 8th, and both rivers were open by the 18th. That's only 10 to 12 days of shutdown for access to light vehicles. I think the department did a great job, and I commend them on their efforts, and we will continue to do that and make sure that the impacts...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I answered in my previous question, it's based around communication. We have to communicate with the people and the residents of Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic particularly. It's not up to us to tell the gas station how much gas they have in stock or the grocery store how much food they have in stock.

Our job as the government is to indicate that there could be an incoming situation in which there is significant probability that that may happen in the Member's region this year because of the coldness of the water. The department has informed me that it's well below...

The department staff, as I said, met with the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board to discuss the environmental assessment options. Staff will be meeting with the board of the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated and Chief and Council of the Pehdzeh Ki First Nation next week, as well as officials from the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency Northern Project Management office.

These discussions will influence how the department will approach the environmental assessment and the timing of any associated activities, consistent with an overarching objective of proceeding through...