Denny Rodgers

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize two constituents today. First Mr. Todd Orvitz. Todd Orvitz was recently the appointee for the accountability and oversight committee on the after-action review, and now, Mr. Speaker, he's working with Northwind Industries. Speaking of Northwind Industries, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize Mr. Kurt Wainman, the owner and CEO of Northwind Industries and currently doing the work on the runway project in partnership with the Indigenous governments as well as EGT out of Tuktoyaktuk. And, Mr. Speaker, that is the company I was...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 385-20(1), 2026-2027 Capital Estimates, Education, Culture and Employment, Finance, and Department of Justice. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And speaking of innovation and all those wonderful things that the Minister hopes to see in there, my assumption is obviously the Minister has done a mandate letter for this new board. Can the Minister speak to some of those -- realizing it's a big document, Mr. Speaker, speak to some of the things in that mandate letter. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. Certainly, yes, we are aware of everchanging times with settling, and likely that runway will be settling for many years to come as many of the roads and infrastructure are in my region.

Given that, Mr. Speaker, and these delays, can the Minister speak to the communication between both the contractor, the Indigenous governments, and all the proponents, including the town of Inuvik for information purposes on these delays and having that communication open with them as well so they're aware what's happening as the project moves forward...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following up on my Member's statement regarding the Inuvik airport runway extension project, again the great work that's been done so far, I'd like to ask the Minister of Infrastructure if he can give an explanation of the -- or a breakdown I guess, I shouldn't say explanation -- of the commitment going forward and timelines to get this project finished, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the town of Inuvik was designated as a northern operational support hub in March 2025 by the Department of National Defence federal minister. The western Arctic location of Inuvik makes it a strategic Arctic security and sovereignty location to monitor and defend Canada's Arctic.

Mr. Speaker, the 3,000-foot extension to the Inuvik runway will make Inuvik the most strategic northern operational support hub for the Royal Canadian Airforce and other NORAD partners. Mr. Speaker, make no mistake, this is a great news story, something we need to celebrate.

Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that the committee defer further consideration of the capital estimates for the Department of Infrastructure. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, and I encourage -- it would be nice if we could actually get some data back from the department on how many times that runway has actually been shut down versus the one in Ulukhaktok, what I know will likely have the same issues; however, the runway in Sachs Harbour -- I mean, Sachs Harbour is a smaller community. It doesn't have jet service like the community of Ulukhaktok does. So if the Minister could commit to coming back with some detail on the number of times that runway in Sachs Harbour has been in -- I guess, in such a condition that smaller aircraft -- so...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, certainly I appreciate that, and my assumption is, and we have engineering reports that say that it probably should settle. But, Mr. Chair, the reality likely is whether you pave it this year in 2027 or in 2030, there's still going to be a requirement on that runway, given it's been a reality for the past few years and certainly will be even more of a reality as we move forward, that there will be O and M money required going forward.

So I guess my question would be, has that been set in stone that we won't be paving this year? Has the department considered getting...

Nothing further on this, Mr. Chair. Thank you.