Wally Schumann

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is following through on its mandate commitment to strengthen connections with public and private sector partners and work to secure funding to advance planning and construction of transportation projects and invest in strategic transportation infrastructure across the Northwest Territories. These partnerships have resulted in investments to improve the quality of the Northwest Territories' highway system, which increases public safety and ensures efficient delivery of essential goods and services for communities.

This summer, the...

I don't think it is going to have an impact on tourism whatsoever. As the ferry situation is not even open yet, it has not impacted access to that road right now from southern Canada. The impact of the road closure right now is between the residents in Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk. They have been very receptive and understanding of the situation that we need to complete this road. The contractors are out there diligently doing their work along with our engineering people. We look forward to the road opening to the general public as soon as it is safe to do so.

As the Member is well aware, we have a process that we follow. We have forced growth. We have new initiatives. We have the budget process. The department recognizes the needs and the pressure on the system and the fiscal capacity that we have to deliver what we can deliver with what we have. I will be bringing something forward for more funding around a whole bunch of initiatives. In due time, we will have those brought to the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I have stated in this House many times, we are continuing to give the ongoing support that we gave to the tourism centre that previously operated, $161,000 annually. That is going on, as far as I know, as long as I am here. What we are waiting to do is hear back from the City of Yellowknife with their consultants what their long-term view of this is.

I can get those details for the Member, but I believe, through our infrastructure bilaterals that we signed with Minister Sohi, one of the line items there is to have a look at some of the preconstruction work that would need to be completed for the Taltson project. There is certainly some money there that we are looking at spending on predevelopment work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I don't have that exact cost in front of me. I think a lot of this work is going to depend on the sediment samples that we get and the amount of dredging that we want to pursue. There is probably a small amount version that we can tackle to address this situation, but that only does a short-term addressment. The long-term addressment is probably in the millions of dollars.

As I have stated, this is a very important project to the Government of the Northwest Territories and residents going forward, and I believe, based on what the Member has just asked me, I would be prepared to send our staff in there and have an early conversation, not just with the Fort Resolution community, but with both Indigenous governments that represent everyone in the community.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member has laid it out pretty well there. When we initially went into this, we started a working group, the Harbour Restoration Working Group. A bunch of work and meetings have taken place with them on a harbour restoration plan. The Coast Guard has done sounding of the Hay River harbour. The military did a flyover and did some photographs for us. As we speak, an analysis of sediment is under way to give us a better idea around the environmental requirements and permitting that needs to be identified as we move forward on this, but I can update the House on...

Yes, I believe those conversations have taken place, and the department is looking at what we can do particularly around opening up some of these parks, particularly on the Ingraham Trail around the wintertime. It is a serious safety issue, I believe, with the amount of traffic that is on there, with the amount of loads that are going to the mines.

We have a number of tourists. Operators are well aware of the situation. They are trying to run safely and look after their customers, but one of the concerns is these independent tourists, if we want to call it that. They come here, they rent a...

We have the SEAs. That is what requires them to base their commitments on. That is what we try to hold them accountable to. At the end of the day, this is something that we want to see the union and the company work out, if possible. We are certainly concerned about it. We are willing to help, like I said, facilitate anything to help move this forward, but, at the end of the day, if they cannot come to an agreement to continue on with these 150 employees, labour law is the ultimate responsibility of the federal government, but we will keep an eye on this situation. I will certainly have...