Deh Cho

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 36)

The Member has reinforced the fact that she’s very concerned about this erosion that’s happening on Highway No. 2. We’ve had our staff look at it. We’ve been monitoring the situation for quite a few years. We have other situations where there are sheer drop-offs. We have guardrails. We have guardrails on our bridges. At this point we want to ensure that it’s flagged. We will start looking at whether realignment is warranted.

I have not been informed by any of the experts that have looked at it that it’s needed right at this point, at this time, but it’s something that we will consider. We will...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 36)

No, I’m not an engineer so I couldn’t really tell the exact type of work that will be done. With discussion with my staff, they’ve indicated that we’d deal with the safety issue and we’d try to curb the erosion that’s happening there. As to what exactly is being planned, I’d have to commit to getting back with the details to the Member.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 35)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member has asked if I would consider putting lighting. Of course, I would consider putting lighting on that stretch of road.

Mr. Speaker, having said that, safety is an issue on all our highways. The section that the Member has raised is part of our inventory. We do speeds on that portion of highway and we have incorporated a highway safety operations review on all our roads and we have plans to put in more guardrails, signs and things of that nature. That includes also looking at putting lighting where we have some intersections. We’ve done some of the intersections...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 35)

I’m not too sure if he’s asking me if I’d use the cheapest form of lighting on that stretch of highway. That’s something we’d have to discuss, of course. We take every opportunity to use energy-efficient lighting. We’ve incorporated solar panels on some of our lights that are outside of the communities. We have this year already, as part of our budget of course, put some lighting around the airport at that intersection. So as we move forward, I can’t commit that we’ll do the work that he’s requesting this year. We’ll certainly consider it. We’ll have the discussion with the City and see how we...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 35)

Thank you. I think that included a request for a walking path. I don’t think that’s what we were discussing initially. We certainly agree. I think that nobody is going to contest the fact that highway street lighting would reduce the potential concerns about a conflict between vehicles and pedestrians. There are other modes, of course, that involve a lot more investment, but street lighting is something that we’d certainly consider at this point. I agree that we probably need a longer term plan that would incorporate walking paths and bike paths and things of that nature, but at this point we...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 33)

Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe the Member has seen any contract from any projects we have across the government. It is not a practice that we provide the information to Regular Members on. We would need the consent of the contractors and, in most situations, the contractors would not agree to it, so that is why we haven’t provided it. Thank you.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 33)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Member for thanking me. I think this is the first time he’s ever thanked me for anything I’ve done on this project.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve had a guarantee on this project all along on the work that was to be done. I think we have better than what would be in the bond at this point. We have cash in the bank. We have done an analysis. We have had our contractors look at what needs to be rectified. In most cases, Mr. Speaker, it’s a matter of going in and doing the actual testing, as we haven’t had all the documentation that we require. But to go in and do...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 33)

We certainly agree with the Member’s description of what’s happening on the harbour. The silt buildup is of concern, of course, but the low waters are compounding the problem. We’ve had several users identify some programs that could potentially be resourced. I believe the municipality was provided with that information and followed up. My understanding is that it wasn’t successful.

We have talked to our federal counterparts. We have been talking to the Coast Guard and we’re hoping that they’ll be able to identify some dollars to at least provide some relief to the situation that’s growing in...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 33)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The responsibility of maintaining navigable waterways is with the federal government.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 33)

Mr. Speaker, more thank yous. Since assuming responsibility for this project, I made every effort to provide information to all Members and to the public. We have tried to make all documents available. We have provided regular updates to the MLAs. We have set up media briefings. We have had technical briefings. We have set up a website that has a camera that shows progress of the construction. We have now formed mail-out newsletters to the general public. We provided access to the Levelton Report, something that normally would not be done for any project, under any circumstance. We have had a...