That’s kind of a weak answer. The people, we want a win-win situation where we’ve got a nice capital project, the community wins, the government wins, but building for five years… That is just completely unacceptable. Working with the community and the community meetings, there’s a management team in the Department of Transportation that continually delays these.

I’d like to ask the Minister, can he do an assessment of the management team and see why this project is taking so long? Colville Lake doesn’t have an all-season road. Their airport was built in two years, so was Deline. I’d like some...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to provide this statement regarding Mr. Ted Grant’s contribution to NWT Tourism. Mr. Grant is a Fort Simpson businessman and bush pilot. He has spent 30 years promoting and developing the NWT tourism industry.

During my tenure as MLA for Nahendeh, I’ve had the pleasure of travelling with him and marvelled at his love for the Northwest Territories while marketing our vast potential in our territory. He has received many rewards to recognize his work, most recently the Mike Stilwell Lifetime Achievement Award from NWT Tourism. Other...

I look forward to the Minister’s internal assessment, because that’s what the community is telling me, that there’s a bottleneck there every time they want to do something. In fact, this gravel haul should have been done two years ago, but it was the department that kept stalling and putting it off and then finally the weather got too warm that they couldn’t do it. I’d like to ask the Minister, can he assess the whole project and why is it taking so long?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation some questions on the construction of the Trout Lake Airport project. As the MLA, I was very proud of the work that I’d done with my colleagues to get the airport project on the books in 2008. Construction started in 2009 and here we are five years later, it’s not scheduled for completion until next year. That’s a six-year project. Yellowknife gets a new bypass road that’s completed within the year. The government wants to build the Inuvik-Tuk highway, almost $300 million, in four years. Why is my airport taking...

Thank you. Just in terms of chipsealing a section of Highway No. 7 from the B.C. border towards Fort Liard, it’s about 36 kilometres. Twenty kilometres of it has already been reconstructed, so we’re looking at reconstruction of another 16 kilometres. Residents are looking for chipsealing some of those kilometres, the ones that have already been constructed, about 20 kilometres. Is that in the plan? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My statement today is directed toward our new Minister of Transportation. It’s just to let him know about my two favourite words in this Assembly: Highway 7.

I would also like to welcome the Minister to the file. Seriously though, my constituents want to be sure that their new Minister knows just how valuable Highway No. 7 is to the Deh Cho. Road conditions are always at the forefront when it comes to local and territorial elections, federal engagement and budget debates.

Highway No. 7 is the gateway to the North. The highway makes our living and brings work...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. You saw Members of this side of the House rise one by one yesterday to express their deep concern about this Education Renewal Initiative put forth by our government. Throughout the day it became clear that it was a government initiative with consulting their partners, but it’s not the people’s initiative. That’s what I heard when I did my tour in the fall time, is that people were excited, they want to be involved in the education renewal. They pointed out to me clearly some of the shortcomings that I wasn’t able to get a good answer on yesterday. Some of the...

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with Motion 5-17(5), which I gave notice of yesterday.

---Unanimous consent granted

I am glad to hear that. Also, recent developments around Fort Liard, Highway No. 7, lots of traffic coming through. There’s some exploration going on across from Fort Liard. I’d like to know, does the Minister know if industry is also helping us invest in our roads this particular summer and perhaps this winter as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to follow up on my Member’s statement on Highway No. 7 with the Minister of Transportation. I’d like to know the type of investment in Highway No. 7 for the years 2014-15. Can he outline how much work they will be doing to Highway No. 7 for the next fiscal year? Thank you.