Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Nuclear is an interesting conversation. I think, if you read the documents, we are interested in all new technologies that are coming down the pipe to help us meet the energy crunch that is coming and the greenhouse gas reductions that we will have to meet. The Nuclear Board of Canada was at the Arctic Energy Conference in Inuvik to participate. They were there with constituency of a few people to pay attention to what's going on and the needs across the North. We continue to follow the nuclear technology as it improves across the country.

At PDAC, I ran into the federal...

Well, first of all, I'll say no to that, just to protect myself. There are a number of circumstances that have to be taken into consideration on the closure of these ice roads. One of the things is, as I said, we have a guideline around how we operate the ice roads in the Northwest Territories. Climate change is impacting how the Government of the Northwest Territories operates and how we build and maintain these ice crossings in the NWT, and it's become a significant challenge. Even this year, we're having some challenges right now with a number of overflow issues on a number of the roads...

Mr. Speaker, as part of this government's mandate to diversify the economy to provide greater opportunity for our residents, we are moving forward with our vision to revitalize the Great Slave Lake fishery.

Since the release of our revitalization strategy last year, we have been working to put into place the many elements needed to move our vision forward. We have researched and are confident that the market exists for the unique fresh-water fish that Great Slave Lake can supply. We have identified, with the Tli Cho Cooperative, a viable business plan that will enable current and future NWT...

I don't think there are any barriers in the way. We need to assess what is going on. We are going to have our engineers go in there this spring to have a look at this and assess the problems that we are having with this section of road. We are going to do a topographical survey of this section of road to help identify what we need to remediate this section of road, what efforts need to be put into it, and what challenges we have on ongoing maintenance going forward. Once we have the engineering people go in there and have a look at it, then we will see what we are going to do going forward.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member knows, in 2010 there was a major reconstruction on this section of road between the highway and the Hay River Reserve. We continue to have issues with this moving forward. There are continued drainage issues along this road that we are trying to address. We have done a significant ditching program this past summer, last year, to address some of this, and we are looking at how we will continue to improve on it. We have had to return some of the chipseal to gravel to address some of the issues on this section of road, and we will continue to have a look at...

I believe this section of road is our responsibility. It's through a transfer agreement that was signed in the early 1990s that this section of road was turned over to us, so it's our responsibility going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I have said in this House a number of times, safety is our number one priority. This section of road is regularly maintained by the department. Repairs and drainage improvements are done as required. We will continue to assess this road as we move forward, as I have said, and we will make sure that it is open for public use and that it is safe.

Mr. Speaker, as per the mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories and the commitments made in the 25-year Transportation Strategy, the Government of the Northwest Territories has been working to secure funding to advance planning and construction of critical transportation corridors in the Northwest Territories.

The Government of the Northwest Territories' three proposed transportation corridors, the Tlicho all-season road, the Slave Geological Province Access Corridor, and the Mackenzie Valley Highway, will bring great benefits to the Northwest Territories. These corridors will...

The projects that we have lined up for 2018-2019, the Department of Infrastructure expects to prepare and submit to Infrastructure Canada early in this fiscal year.

The other thing I guess other Members maybe didn't realize is that, when we signed the agreement here on Wednesday, we were the very first ones in Canada to sign our bilateral agreement, so we are the first out of the gate. With that going forward, the projects that we want to do early in this coming fiscal year, we are going to have to come back for supplementary funding in the House in the May sitting for the projects that are...

The $180 billion in infrastructure funding provided by the Investing in Canada plan is being delivered under a series of different funds, but there are a bunch of different criteria and eligibility requirements around this for federal outcomes for project eligibility, and the agreement that we signed, unfortunately, does not provide any opportunity for investment in housing.