On Friday, May 23, 2008, the Standing Committee on Government Operations presented its Report on the Review of the 2006–2007 Annual Report of the Languages Commissioner. The report, which includes four recommendations, was read into the record by members of the standing committee on that day. Mr. Chair, I would suggest dealing with any general comments members of this committee might have before dealing with any recommendation.

I move that this committee recommend that the Minister table a detailed action plan no later than October 2008 outlining how the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation will address the recommendations of the audit report.

Furthermore, this committee recommends that this plan outline the following details:

specific measures for actions addressing each recommendation;

an explanation of what each of the specific actions addresses;

progress measures for each action;

timelines for each action or measure; and

organizational responsibility and accountability assigned to each specific action.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On Friday, May 23, 2008, the Standing Committee on Government Operations presented its Report on the Review of the Report of the Auditor General on the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Public Housing and Homeownership programs.

Mr. Chair, I would suggest we deal with any general comments members of this committee might have on the report before dealing with the seven recommendations it includes.

I’d like to thank the Minister for the brevity of that answer and his efficiency there. I thought in the budget cycle previous to this there was a line item specifically referring to repairs to runway lights in Jean Marie and even in Nahanni Butte, I believe. I’d like to ask the Minister if there are plans this coming year to at least assess them and evaluate the repairs to those lights.

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Mr. Speaker, because of the long distances between our communities in the NWT, air travel has become an essential service for our residents. Most community airports across the NWT are equipped with basic infrastructure, such as adequate runways, navigational aids and runway lighting. This ensures that communities can be safely accessed by air 24 hours a day.

Unfortunately, that is not the case for two communities in my riding. The airports in the communities of Jean Marie River and Nahanni Butte do not have runway lights. The lack of runway lights makes it...

I’d like to thank the Minister for a much better answer. The intent of question period is not to get the short answers. I didn’t like the tone of that. The intent is to inform me and the public and our communities that the government is here to provide services for our communities. Safety is one of them. Once again, I’d like to tell the Minister that my communities feel that not having these runway lights installed is a safety issue, and I’d like him to do something about it.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement to the Minister of Transportation. Recently I was flying over the communities of Nahanni Butte and Jean Marie, and I noticed there were no runway lights there. I’d just like to ask the Minister: is purchasing of these lights or fixing them up being planned for this fiscal year?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Hon. Norman Yakeleya, Minister of Transportation.

I hear with great interest that Highway No. 7 is still having its share of problems. That’s the section between Fort Simpson and Fort Liard. The conditions are still muddy, and the road is closed once again. This is really, really causing a lot of grief to constituents, especially those in Fort Liard. I know that the Minister committed to reconstruction and fixing of the drainage surface and great improvement. I’d just like to know what has been done in the planning stages so far, because I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d just like to reiterate one more time the frustration of the travelling public and the people of my communities at having the road closed.

Once again, can the Minister tell me when he can start building the road? I think we can still move gravel, even if the conditions are rainy, up to the muddy sections there. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister to reach out and grab all the resources he has, put them together and then build our road.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to know how much work has been done to date. It’s apparent to constituents that it looks like nothing is being done, but I’d like to know: have tenders been provided? Who is going to do the work? When, at the bare minimum, can they build a bypass road past these muddy sections that are causing the most interruption?