Michael McLeod

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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We want that section of the highway to be a glorious piece of highway to drive. We have been working hard to accomplish that, given the age of the highway and the amount of work that’s going to be required to reconstruct that whole section of highway on both Highway No. 1 and Highway No. 7. I think we’ve been working quite well with the Member in his riding.

Highway No. 7 has seen the investment, or will see it by the end of this summer, of about $12 million that has been dedicated to that section of road. However, that’s far short of what it needs to be reconstructed...

We have people that provide oversight on all our roads on a regular basis. In the case of the Dempster, I think we’ve invested well over $28 million in the life of this government and the previous government. There are a lot of discussions between ourselves, transportation officials of the NWT, and with the Yukon. If there are any concerns, certainly, we’d like to hear further of the specifics. If there is something that needs to be reviewed, we certainly can have our headquarters staff or somebody from the regional office and provide some investigation to look at the situation. But it is...

Overall, we think it’s an excellent opportunity to the qualified businesses in the Northwest Territories to expand their service, to generate a revenue source. It may mean a different type of vehicle. It may mean a different schedule. It may mean convincing Greyhound to release some of their commitments to provide freight. All those discussions have to take place, and we certainly have to get a better understanding as to what is going to be coming in terms of what the Greyhound plans are. We don’t have that all in our hands right now.

The reason the bus service is not going to haul passengers anymore is because the Alberta government deregulated their system. It is now allowing what was a monopoly up until now, to cancel some of the trips that are coming to the rural areas that have very low market volumes.

We have certainly an interest to communicate what the plans are from Greyhound. Our information coming from the local operators is they don’t have a very good understanding as to what the Greyhound plans to do, whether they would step aside if an operator came forward from the Northwest Territories and operated up to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take the occasion to recognize a former colleague from my time in RWED in my past life, Mr. Robert Bouchard. I understand Robert has developed a keen interest in politics and I want to wish him all the best. Of course, I want to recognize Melody McLeod, my sister-in-law, and say welcome.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Karl is survived by his wife, Anne, who continues to live in Enterprise. He was cremated and will be buried in Winnipeg, Manitoba, near some of his relatives. A memorial service will be held on May 28th at 2:00 p.m. in the community hall of Enterprise and we welcome any visitors. Thank you.