Michael McLeod

The fuel subsidy is not always automatically applied. We try to utilize the fuel subsidy to lessen the impact when there is a fairly huge or large discrepancy in what was being charged for fuel from one year to the next. That’s the situation that we look at. It’s not an automatic issuance of the subsidy. We don’t provide subsidies to every community. In some cases, in some years we don’t provide any.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do have a Petroleum Products Revolving Fund that we use to soften the blow of any price increases and we have been using it. We use it in a lot of our communities. However, the petroleum products program is based on full-cost recovery. The costs are based on what it takes to purchase the fuel, deliver the fuel, and have somebody, an agent in the community be responsible for the community delivery.

There’s no $5 million fund. It’s, I think, $700,000 and there’s... Sorry. There’s $420,000 left in the fund.

We certainly can check. I believe any time there’s a price increase in the community, the community is notified along with the MLA. So that notification would have been made. We also notify and get permission from Cabinet to use the fund that is in the Petroleum Products Revolving Fund. The prices include product costs, transportation costs, sales commissions, any O and M costs for the tank farm, and our fuel is purchased on a different format than the private industry does. In many cases, such as Tsiigehtchic, there are, and have been, occasions where our fuel was the lowest in the region. It...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize the returning officer from the Deh Cho, Phoebe Parent. She has, I believe, been the returning officer for every one of the three times that I’ve run for an election, so hopefully the fourth time will be the charm. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Dempster Highway has been a priority for some time, and has been raised in the House by the Member on a number of occasions. We continue to focus on reconstruction of this highway, the Dempster Highway. We’ve done a lot of work on improving the roadway alignments, the roadbed and driving surfaces.

As I responded to this question by this Member on a number of occasions, the road needs to be reconstructed. We are attempting to do that with the resources we have on hand and we’ll continue to focus on that. However, the reconstruction process for this length of highway...

Yes, I’ve talked to all my colleagues at the national level. It’s a concern right across the board. The decision by Greyhound to continue their service into B.C. all the way to Whitehorse is a business decision. They have the market volumes there to warrant carrying of passengers. We had the jurisdiction of Manitoba look at doing one year of subsidies. They have since discontinued that and I’m not sure where they’re going to go as next steps. We have looked and talked with all our colleagues at different jurisdictions and are looking at all the options.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NWT is one of four jurisdictions that do not regulate passenger or bus industry. We certainly control and insist on safety and insurance requirements to provide service. However, in the last while since we were made aware of the bus service that came into Hay River, as the Member referred to, we are not going to provide passenger service anymore. We’ve taken the occasion to try to get as much information as we can to see what that meant in terms of are they also going to discontinue hauling freight. Are there other people out there that would step up to the plate to...

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about another potentially significant development in our northern transportation system. On Monday, June 6, 2011, the Government of Canada announced funding for the construction of an all-season road between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk.

Mr. Speaker, this investment not only builds momentum behind a dream long held by residents of the region, to drive on an all-season road between the communities, but it also realizes the first step to complete the construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway project.

As the celebrating and the handshaking were underway, Mr. Speaker...

I’ll have to check, but I believe our maintenance cycles are the same. We’re being challenged by the age of the road. We’re being challenged by the effect that water and rain storms are having on our road. Also the huge challenge is the drainage, especially on Highway No. 7 is not done and is not up to par. We are having a lot of pooling of water in our ditches and it doesn’t seem to go anywhere. So that’s all being reviewed and those things need to be addressed.

But I will commit to the Member that I will discuss this with my officials to see if there have been any reductions. As far as I know...