David Ramsay

The program will start being piloted in Yellowknife and in Hay River.

We’re working with some service providers here in the Northwest Territories that have the knowledge and the expertise to service the equipment, and we hope to move forward with a contract to allow them to work on the Ignition Interlock System here in the Northwest Territories, and they will be from the Northwest Territories.

It would be a way for them to get their licence back a little bit early, and it would be very beneficial for somebody whose livelihood depended on them driving. It’s been used in work vehicles that allow somebody to get back to work if they’re supporting a family. That’s what it’s intended to do.

Mr. Speaker, I can get that detail for the Member, but for the program itself, for somebody to enrol in the program, as I mentioned, it is $125 a month. That’s the cost for the individual. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, a great deal of consultation took place with other jurisdictions across the country. I mentioned in my Minister’s statement Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador. In other jurisdictions, they see reductions in impaired driving being reduced by 50 to 90 percent. We are very hopeful that once the program is put into place here in the Northwest Territories that we will see a reduction in impaired driving here in the NWT as well. Thank you.

We’d have to act very quickly in order to see construction start this season. As Members know, we’re already into March and the season isn’t too much longer. We’ve probably got another five or six weeks in the Beaufort-Delta to actually get a lot of that work done, so we’d have to work quickly.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’d be working closely with ECE on any training initiatives associated with the construction of that highway.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a number of people in the gallery today that I would like to recognize. I will begin with some staff members that we have from DOT’s road licensing and safety division. We have Steve Loutitt, Megan Welch and Michael Conway. I’d also like to recognize Kelley Merilees-Keppel. I’m not sure if she was up there earlier or is behind me.

Also, I mentioned in my Minister’s statement the Students Against Drunk Driving. I’d like to recognize all the good work those students do. We have a number of them in attendance today and I’d like to recognize them. Shania Clark...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled Minister of Transportation’s Report to the Legislative Assembly for 2012 on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act 1990. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve had that very discussion with our staff and, yes, we have given that some consideration.