Thank you, I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So Mr. Chair, I do want to be quite frank about this, but that this was always expected that what was originally known as the Lockhart All-Season Road would be moving to an environmental assessment in the coming fiscal year. I think there has been a bit of a dialing back of that language and really a shift in a positive way to take advantage of the attention that we are seeing on a national scale to see an all-season road through this region. And so that shift in name has also come with a shift in approach, which is to say that this would not be a singularly GNWT-led in advance, but we are looking to partner more meaningfully and to engage more meaningfully at this stage with, as I say, Tlicho and YKDFN, but also noting that there certainly are other Indigenous nations, for example the North Slave Metis, who also have an interest in the area. So a bit of a change in that approach, which may mean that it is not as far advanced as what it might've been, but it is still the hope that we can, by the end of this fiscal, be at the point of having an EA ready which would, of course, require having the DAR in advance of that.
So it's a fair bit to happen in the course of the next year and a half, but I certainly haven't retired from that as a goal. There's a lot that would go into it, Indigenous knowledge studies and other information. So a lot of that can happen, whether it 100 percent gets to where I want it to be at before the end of the next fiscal, again, remains a bit to be seen but I do believe that there is a sense of urgency on this, again particularly given the national attention that it's getting.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do appreciate that the Minister noted that to get to be ready for an EA, there would need to be a lot of studies and Indigenous knowledge, traditional knowledge studies, also a lot of baseline data collection, which can't be done sort of in the snap of the fingers and often can't be sort of fast-tracked in the sense of there are certain times a year where you need to collect environmental baseline data. And if you need to collect it in the summer, you need to collect it then, you can't just sort of do it in February instead just because you want to.
So just flagging that this is an extremely short timeline, and I would want to make sure that the proper baseline data and Indigenous knowledge studies are being collected and carefully considered as opposed to just sort of skimmed past.
I'll just move quickly then to the Mackenzie Valley Highway planning. I know that this EA has been underway for quite a long time, but just sort of more active in the last few years. Looking on the Environmental Impact Review Board website and their timeline, it states that they're expecting the government to submit an addendum to the developer assessment report by July of next year. It's unclear how long the next steps in the process would take, but what is the government hoping to achieve over the next fiscal year? Like what is the milestone or achievement where you hope to be by the end of 2026-2027? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So on this project, there would be the time for July and then after that, our public hearings would be held. And again, our hope certainly being that if we are in advance of that, spending time with the communities who are affected and impacted, that these public hearings would go fairly smoothly, that there will be no, again, that people are hopefully well versed in the project by this point. One of the things we are hoping to see happen in the immediate future is that a working group readiness or a project readiness working group can be set up for those communities. Typically that would, or historically, that would often not happen until later in the process, until you're sort of a year out from construction, but it is our view that getting that done now will actually empower communities to be ready when this moves forward and to also then therefore be better placed to participate in those hearings. So the hearings would be, again, really in about a year from now, but a lot of work in advance of that.
Another, getting out of the environmental assessment process really at this point does also ensure that we, again, want to make sure that when we get to that point, that there's -- everyone is ready. And one of the big parts there is ensuring that Pehdzeh Ki First Nation are involved. They've, for a very long time, not been very involved. And we now have with them a fairly detailed and fairly specific work plan to make sure that we are moving in tandem with them and so that we have, that everyone's ready to roll. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. Time has run out on that. Is there any other questions from the Members? Seeing none. Okay, thank you.
Department of Infrastructure, Strategic Infrastructure, Energy Supply Chains, $70,801,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Committee, we will now excuse the Minister responsible for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains and the witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses from the chamber. Mahsi.
Okay, thank you. We will now move on to the Minister of Infrastructure for the remainder of the department. Does the Minister of Infrastructure wish to bring witnesses into the chamber?
Yes, I do, Madam Chair.
Okay. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the chambers.
Thank you. Minister, please introduce your witnesses.
Thank you, Madam Chair. To my right -- yeah, my right, Celeste McKay, no relation, assistant deputy minister, asset management. And to my left, Cathy Maniego, deputy minister. Thank you.
Thank you. Okay, so please return to page 55, assets management information items on page 56, 58. Are there any questions? I'm going to go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, under the Highway No. 8 reconstruction under the ICIP, can the Minister confirm if that is the work, any upgrade or upgrade the section to -- I mean, that work is allocated to the section from Rengleng River to Inuvik. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. That is work that is slotted for 2026-2027 for kilometer 225 to 230. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
225 to 230? Can the Minister confirm -- and again, I'm not sure, and I don't have that in front of me -- what section that is on the Dempster Highway.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
The Rengleng River section, Mr. Chair
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you. I certainly appreciate that. And I know the drivers and residents driving that highway regularly will also appreciate it, Mr. Chair. Can he also give me kind of an overview of Highway No. 10, the highway upgrades and rehabilitation. I believe that's the Inuvik to Tuk highway.
Okay, thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Sorry, I'll ask b to respond there if you don't mind.
Okay, thank you. I'll go to the assistant deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Highway No. 10 reconstruction project addresses ongoing challenges along the ITH, including potholes and dips, loosening base course and surface gravel, soft shoulders, permafrost degradation, surface rutting, water overflowing, ponding, and exposure of subgrades on slopes. And it's along the entire stretch of the ITH where there are issues. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, and thank you for that answer. I appreciate it. So that does include then -- because I know we had some issues, obviously where there were the -- the road actually needed to be brought up. We needed some grade in there. There was some issues with -- obviously with flooding and also issues with the snow build-up there. So this now -- this work now that was intended to kind of take care of that, I understand in the initial contract, that was -- it was initially going to be built to that level but then we had to do some cutbacks as we often do in major contracts but now that will now take care of that issue of the flooding and the build-up of snow in that area. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Yeah, it sounds like more of a comment. And I agree, that's a lot of the work that's being done there. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'll go back to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Nothing further on this, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Thank you. Next on my list I got is the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Highway No. 4 reconstruction, I've had a number of constituents who have experienced some very concerning safety issues on that highway over the summer, including a loss of life, and I'm quite concerned about the condition of the highway and just how the maintenance is undertaken that is leading to some very tricky sections of the road. There's been concerns about lack of proper signage -- or sorry, not lack of proper signage, but where the signage is placed isn't always as visible as it could be, etcetera. Anyway, so on this case, can we hear about what the upgrades and rehabilitation are going to result in overall improvements? Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. There's quite a bit of work being done on Highway No. 4. There's a widening, there's culverts being installed, improved drainage. So general maintenance and full improvements to the highway in that section there. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. And how long is the intended work going to take? Is this a larger multi-year project or something that's just going to occur in the next fiscal year? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is scheduled for the next two years essentially, this year and the next. Thank you.
Okay, Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And the safety concerns that I've heard about, I'm assuming the department is aware of them. Is there any update at this point on how they plan to improve safety conditions along the highway? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair.
So the priorities for all the roads are the safety concerns and, you know, for Highway No. 4, you know, taking away a lot of the dips and trying to straighten out some of the road on a continual basis with the permafrost and stuff. So it's ongoing maintenance, and that's scheduled over the next two years. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go back to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Nothing further. Thank you.
Thank you. Is there any further questions? I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So just a few further clarifications on the Highway No. 4 reconstruction, the Ingraham Trail. So the improvements are planned between which kilometer markings; can the Minister clarify? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
