Michael McLeod

Mr. Speaker, I’m being very careful, not because I don’t see a need to increase and add to the deterrents that are in place already. I would think the fine of $250 is pretty significant for anybody to be considering parking in one of those stalls. However, this is a responsibility that falls under another department. The Member is asking what I would do for an area that I am not responsible for.

Mr. Speaker, we certainly can commit to having that discussion with the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and the City of Yellowknife, if need be, to see what else we can do. At this point, we...

Mr. Speaker, no. We are not going to consider changing legislation to include demerit points for parking violations under the municipal bylaw. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to provide Members and the public with information related to the future Mackenzie Valley Highway to Tuktoyaktuk.

On Friday, January 29th, the Government of Canada announced it has agreed to commit $3 million over two years toward a $7 million project description report on the construction of an all-weather highway from Wrigley to the Dempster Highway. This report will work in combination with a previously announced $1 million commitment to a project description report for the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk portion.

With this announcement, the Government of Canada...

We had intended to do two things in the life of this government. The first portion for the Mackenzie Valley Highway initiative is to have an economic analysis done on this whole portion of highway that we’re looking at. The second thing that we wanted to achieve was to have a project description report for the whole portion right from Wrigley to Tuk. We’re well on our way on the Tuk-Inuvik portion. We’re still working on the funding for the rest of it. Once we do have the resources, then we’ll be able to embark on that work. That includes surveying, the alignment, some of the economic scoping...

Mr. Speaker, I, unlike others, can see past Yellowknife. We have, of course, recognized that this is an initiative. It has a bearing on companies across the North, outside of Yellowknife. It is an initiative that is receiving a lot of attention. A lot of other jurisdictions are buying into it. We are also looking and reviewing what is being done in other areas. The short answer is yes, we are looking at it from across the board standpoint. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we did commit to providing correspondence to the Member. I apologize if that hasn’t happened. My information tells me that we have had some discussions on jurisdictions. We have had some discussion with some of the NGOs. We have to commit to have that information compiled and provided to them. I don’t have that all with me today. Thank you.

This project, without a doubt, has had its share of challenges. We have continually worked with all the players, all the people involved in this project, and we have reviewed the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation and their responsibilities. We’ve also reviewed and looked at the contractors and sub-contractors. We’ve also at the end of last season, and we’d like to do this again, sat down and brought all the people involved with a facilitator to look at what we possibly could have done better. We’ve had some good discussions on how we can change our relationships. The short answer to the Member’s...

Mr. Speaker, the Member is asking a question that should be directed to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation. Our involvement and our agreement with that company requires an equity portion be invested in this project. They have so far been able to commit to a portion of it; roughly half of what the agreement was involving. They have now, as the Member has stated, no longer a partner that was covering the rest. I believe, and I would have to check with them, that they are now seeking a new partner and looking at options of how they can come up with the rest of the money, including talking to the...

Without taking the thunder away from the federal Minister’s visit, I can assure the Member that we have been working on completing the PDR for all of the Mackenzie Valley Highway. We had anticipated it would take roughly two years and cost approximately $8 million. The work that has been completed from the Inuvik-Tuk portion is proving to be a little more expedient than we had expected. They did the work on that stretch in roughly a six or seven month period. We expect that we’ll move a little faster than we had originally provided time for. But we’ll be having a get-together and some...

Mr. Speaker, we’ve been putting a lot of attention to this initiative that has been supported by our government. We’ve done some very good work in terms of developing the project description reports that are required for the road all the way from Wrigley to Tuk. The federal government has, through the CanNor program, funded the portion from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk. My discussions with the mayors from Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk indicate that has now been concluded. It is being packaged as a report and that is coming forward. There has also been a submission for some dollars and a request for...