Thank you, Minister. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is appreciated. I would appreciate that they do monitor it. It used to be that you could use either side of the road to walk, run, or ride up. Now, clearly, everyone has to use just the one side. When you have moving vehicles and potentially people coming from either direction on that one section -- it is not a very long section, so it is not as though we are asking for a whole lot here. I know that it would take extensive work. But I appreciate the efforts that the department is making in monitoring it, and I will work with them in the future to see if we can make sure that that is put into the budget for public safety.
Lastly, Mr. Chair, relative to Ingraham Trail, a couple of things. How does the department determine when a section of road gets whatever level of attention in terms of repair? That road, obviously because of the high traffic that it is used for, especially during winter haul, gets a lot of damage to it. Right now, after winter haul is done, the road is left with numerous potholes, missing shoulders, missing painted lines, missing entire sections of road. How does the department determine how to prioritize maintenance to a road that is in such disrepair? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mister Chair. I'll defer that to deputy minister Neudorf.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Neudorf.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Highways are in continual need of repair, and so we have highway crews that do that and they're funded to do that. I would note that, you know, Highway No. 3, that crew based in Yellowknife does the chipseal repairs on both Highway No. 3, between Behchoko and Yellowknife, and Highway No. 4. So they will be aware of the condition of the roadway and then come up with their work plan accordingly to deal with the issues. I note that, at the present time, they are working on Highway No. 4, about the Prelude Lake area, and they're working their way back into Yellowknife to deal with some of the chipseal distress areas. As they come back, then the users will notice an improvement to the surface of the road. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Neudorf. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Does that mean that the department is and I know that they have to have some degree of doing this, but I mean, in the interests of public safety, there has to be a way in which to measure when O and M costs start to exceed the cost of replacing a section of road. You know, that's, right now, the concerns that are raised with me by residents living on the Ingraham Trail, is that the road is clearly unsafe in sections of that road. You know, is there a way in which the department is evaluating that and deeming whether a section of road should be replaced or not? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister.
I'll defer that to deputy minister Neudorf.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Neudorf.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We do continually monitor our road. We're out on the roads every day, monitoring to ensure that they are safe. And, generally, we take action required to make sure that the road is safe, including having appropriate speed limits and signage as required, and then, as well, undertaking necessary repairs to the surface of the road. Obviously, it takes, will take, time to get the crew around to undertake all those needed repairs, and so we'll ensure that there's appropriate safety in place until that happens, including reducing speed as required.
We are continually balancing between capital and O and M, as well. If it's just a surface repair and it's a short section, then that would be a maintenance expenditure. There does come a time when the road does have to be reconstructed. Typically, we would look at upgrading the road at the same time. We do have some capital money on both Highway No. 3 and Highway No. 4 to undertake those repairs. The priority right now for Highway No. 4 is the continuing to upgrade the section past Prelude Lake, about kilometre 45 to kilometre 50 in that area. We're straightening out that road, reconstructing it.
All of this would be noted in our highway functional plans that we have. So each numbered highway has its own very highlevel functional plan that would talk about the traffic, the users, the condition of the road, and then speak to some of the highlevel needs and how the department is addressing those. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Neudorf. Mr. Vanthuyne, your time has expired. Do I have any further comments or questions on page 417? Seeing none, I'll call the page. Transportation, highways, operations expenditure summary, activity total $71,089,000. Agreed?
Agreed.
We'll move on to Marine. The activity total is on page 421. We will begin by discussing the detail on page 422, active positions. Questions on page 422? Seeing no questions on page 422, return to page 421, marine, operations expenditure summary. Questions? Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Where to begin? I note there are a lot of cutbacks here. I note, I'm not sure what the preparations are in Inuvik this fall, but, you know, I think people really got used to having the ferry open all fall up at Tsiigehtchic on the Mackenzie River, and I just want to know what the plans are, moving forward, because a lot of people are asking back home. You know, it sure helped out with the cost of living up there, as well. So I'd like to ask the department: what's the plans for this coming fall? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're continuing with what we've done in the past here with the ferry service in Tsiigehtchic, so there's no change, going forward, right now. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the ferry will run right up till possibly December, then? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. For the coming season, that is correct. We will be looking at all aspects of the ferry operation in the Beau-Del in the coming years. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Blake.
Yes, thank you. No, I know the crews are getting very familiar with running through the fall, there, so I think it'll run smoothly. I know a lot of work has been done to the ferry this past spring, and I think a little more needs to be done next year, so that's great to hear, and I look forward to it. Thanks.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Would the Minister like to comment?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is right. We've done a number of repairs on the ferry up there, and we'll be doing a little bit more work on it this coming season, this next summer. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Next I have Mr. McNeely.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I recall previous discussions here, with the department, on federal funding for the assistance of marine site maintenance. Is there any progress on federal funding for that particular cost?
Thank you, Mr. McNeely. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We've written a letter to the federal minister, voicing our concern on reinstating this funding for this initiative, and we'll continue to work with the federal government and the Minister, moving forward on this. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. McNeely.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So we may expect some funding for next marine season? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. McNeely. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We don't know what the expectations of the federal government to reinstate this money, and, as the Member is well aware, we have a new Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, so we will be engaging with him in these discussions, as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Next on my list I have Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know the Minister gave me a commitment to give me the breakdowns of the regional costs of the ferries by the 29th; it's magically the 29th now. In regards to ferry operations, I notice that my colleague up in Tsiigehtchic and McPherson has got a nice little bit of an operation going till December. Has the department looked at the potential of doing the same thing in the Deh Cho? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The operation in Tsiigehtchic versus what's happening in Fort Simpson is two totally different things. One of the reasons it's in the Beau Delta is to service the propane and the liquified natural gas in the region, and the Fort Simpson region does not need to have that service delivered to them. So this is just to have a continued service to make sure there isn't an interruption to the power supply and heat supply for the town of Inuvik. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that enlightened answer. They've been talking about LNG opportunities in Fort Simpson, so I guess my I look at this and mean proactive on the Department of Transportation, would you guys be looking at it, looking at how to make it more efficient in the ferry operation? I guess it's just being proactive. So, Mr. Chair, can the Minister elaborate if the department is looking at that? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's an initiative that would be taken on by our Public Works and Services and NTPC, and I suspect that, moving forward, they will be contacting our department to see, you know, what will we be doing to meet the demands if the LNG was put into Fort Simpson. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for his answer, and we look forward to LNG in our community of Fort Simpson so we can get the longer ferry service.
In regards to the old Merv Hardie in Fort Providence, there, what is the status of that ferry? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Merv Hardie continues to be the backup for all our ferry operations in the Northwest Territories, and, at present, we have no plans for it other than that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So that's really good to hear, it's backup. Would it not be nicer to have it closer to where the other ferries are actually, in Fort Simpson or, you know, Wrigley, or Tsiigehtchic, or McPherson. So would the Minister look at moving it to Fort Simpson for potential use there? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. If there's an issue with the other ferries, which we've had some issues in the past year, but most of the time we can service them on a timely basis where interruption of service is not a great deterrent. Where the ferry is presently parked, the Merv Hardie, it's a Coast Guard base, and it's a safe location and out of the way from any type of vandalism or anything like that. So we're quite comfortable leaving the ferry right where it is. So thank you, Mr. Chair.
