David Ramsay

It’s, in many cases, in our best interest to look at harmonizing regulations with other jurisdictions, but as I mentioned earlier, the Northwest Territories has roads that are gravel, chipseal. Sometimes the regulations that may work in southern Canada aren’t going to be able to work here in the Northwest Territories, but I do believe, if the Member has some examples, I know he’s spoken about a class 3 driver’s licence for the one-ton pick-up hauling a trailer, if there are others the Member speaks of.

Perhaps what I could suggest is a meeting with the EDI committee that the Member is on and we...

Mr. Speaker, that goes without saying. I mean, that is always something that this government is continuing to pursue.

We’re developing an Energy Strategy and we need to find ways to get communities off of diesel. Our intention is to do just that. Thank you.

My belief is that we have to do more training; we have to get more of our own people trained and ready for the jobs that are coming in industry, and my belief is we can do that. Some of the recommendations contained in the What We Heard report would suggest that the government needs to address the training component. If we can train more people, we’ll keep more people at home and have less of the fly-in/fly-out type of workers.

I should also mention that the new ownership at Ekati, Dominion Diamond Mining Corporation, certainly is looking at ways to try to keep their workforce here in the...

I know we are looking at that situation the Member outlined for us. As soon as we get some work done on that, I will be able to get that back to the Member as soon as possible.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve got a balancing job to do here in the Northwest Territories. With all the gravel and chipseal surfaces here in the Northwest Territories, it’s important that we protect the integrity of those road bases from harm. Some of these larger trucks may, in fact, be damaging our road surfaces here in the Northwest Territories. We’ve done some research and we’ve listened to the concerns of Members, and we are going to be moving forward with a two-year trial period changing regulations on tri-drive configurations here in the Northwest Territories. We expect that these...

Mr. Speaker, I’m not quite sure how the Member believes that we’re only concentrating on mega projects. With an effort like the Economic Opportunities Strategy clearly in place, we are planning to move forward with diversifying the economy. We know we can’t do it on large projects alone. That’s why we started this effort and that’s why we’re going to see it through. That’s why we’re going to come up with an action plan that’s going to see us move forward on areas like agriculture, forestry, fisheries and the traditional economy here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have to congratulate the advisory panel in the work that they did around the Northwest Territories in meeting with stakeholders. This is all about partnerships and building those solid relationships. We had a number of partners in this effort.

We are going to be moving the work forward. The What We Heard report that was tabled will be turned into an action plan. We hope to have that action plan to the House and to standing committee sometime toward the end of September.

You don’t get into an effort like this with the partners we have and not put something forward that...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are going to continue to move forward with the dialogue with industry and community leaders in the Sahtu as we look for ways to enhance the winter road in the region until we get an all-weather road. We will have to continue to work together to build those relationships.

As to the Oscar Creek Bridge, we are hopeful that at some point in time we are going to be able to access federal infrastructure dollars, at which time we will be at a much better position to address issues like the Oscar Creek Bridge and other requirements on that winter road system in the central...

We will get that information for the Member today. Thank you.

As far as the section from the border to Liard goes, I know there are nine sections that calcium will be applied. I can get that information for the Member from the distance from the border, the 32 kilometres to Liard.

But the application of calcium chloride will be done near bridge crossings and other areas where it’s possible to pass. So, from a safety perspective, that’s where the application will be applied.

If there is more truck traffic coming out of BC to Fort Liard, this again is something we’re going to have to take a look at, and if more calcium is needed to be applied to that section...