Wally Schumann

As soon as we have Transport Canada approval to be in operation, the ferries will start operating. We are hoping, as I said, that probably the Fort McPherson ferry will be the first one in operation, and hopefully by May 28th or June 1st at the very latest would be the Tsiigehtchic ferry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will try to make this quick and try to get some more questions in for everybody. The Louis Cardinal, this year we were doing paint and deck repairs, under way all this week. We installed four brand new engines in the Louis Cardinal this season during the winter. The department is working with Transport Canada to complete the vessel inspections on that and inspect the new engines and the hull to be conducted today with the federal government.

On the Abraham Francis, there are the ramps that are going to be replaced. One of them has been completed already, and we are...

As all Members are well aware, we announced all three of these together. The 2030 Climate Change Strategic Framework, the 2030 Energy Strategy, and the Petroleum Strategy, as they are all linked together, were publicly released here in the Assembly on May 1, 2018.

Various federal officials have already been made aware of it. To date, the GNWT has not received any formal feedback from any federal Ministers at this point, but the response that we have had from federal people so far has been very positive, and they are pleased that we are doing our part to meet the Pan-Canadian Framework targets.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The 227-kilotonne reduction anticipated from the Taltson expansion is the premise of hydro generation and transmission lines to displace any diesel power generation in the Northwest Territories. The Government of the Northwest Territories identified this priority as part of our response to the federal government's Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, along with other energy and transportation priorities. Some of the work that we plan to do includes defining the potential market, capital costs, transmission line routing, and finalizing a business case...

As I said, the contractors have some deficiencies and some works to finish up on the terms of their contract going forward. We have some gravel to lay down, some packing to be completed; there are a number of things to be done around bridges, rip-wrap and painting and such, so these things are going to be completed this year, as I said, in the fall of this year.

There are some lessons learned already to be taken from the season that we just had it open. With the different amounts of snow where it has accumulated along the embankments, we have already recognized the fact that we need to put up...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents entitled "Follow-up Letter to Oral Question 253-18(3), Ice Road Operations," and "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 263-18(3), Dredging of the Port of Hay River." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway was deemed substantially completed on the 15th of November of last year, and over the winter we experienced an average daily traffic count of 60 to 70 vehicles per day throughout the whole season without any issues. The work that is being performed and carried out on the highway this summer and fall is the contract work that has to be completed under the terms and conditions of the contract to correct all deficiencies noted during the final inspection of the highway. That was when we did that, last year, so this work is expected to be...

As part of the Great Slave commercial revitalization policy planning and a two-price system, the wholesale to fisher and retail price was proposed to the Northwest Territories Freshwater Marketing Federation, to consider and was approved several years ago. Like anything, the intent of the strategy is not to compete and displace existing sales channels that fishers have and compete against small businesses, but the system having adequate supply of year-round fulfillment for sales opportunities and develop new ones.

As the Member from Hay River knows, some of the challenges around the way that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As all Members know, the department is fully committed to this process. We believe in revitalizing the fishing strategy. We want to implement this strategy. We have committed significant funds from this government towards this strategy. We have also committed a position to help the fishermen in Hay River in moving this strategy forward.

We are working with other federal departments to secure some funding around this and other funding partners. These initial discussions are still looking very promising and, at the right and appropriate time, I will announce what kind of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We can certainly look into that. I know Destination Deline and the Member have been working very hard to attract tourism, and they signed a MOU with a number of companies in China on their last trade mission there. We will certainly work with the community. I know the department has spent a lot of money and investment, up to over $500,000, on helping them get their position as Destination Deline, and we will certainly talk to our department and our regional staff and see what we can do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.