Michael McLeod

Mr. Speaker, we have in the last while worked with a number of initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the North. We have looked at our ferries and the engines and the types of engines that we use to power our ferries and work towards putting more energy-efficient motors in these boats. We are also looking at having a better energy management coordination throughout our department for our vehicles. We have looked at installing, and have installed, heaters in our vehicles so we could reduce the idling time with our larger trucks and heavy equipment. So there are a number of things. We...

We certainly would agree to provide some support for the community along with ourselves to have that discussion with the DFO. My understanding of the situation is that it is a difficult facility to construct. However, we also recognize that Canada has put some dollars in their federal budget that may be accessible. We will commit to working with the community and follow it up to see what is possible and keep the Member informed.

We haven’t designed the assessment research that needs to be done for the airports and, therefore, don’t have a cost at this point. Thank you.

Mr. Minister, this issue of distracted driving has been brought forward by a number of people and we have looked at the situation and certainly still have been considering what would all be involved if we were to move forward. Does that include eating? Does that include other things along with cell phones? And we haven’t been able to completely be convinced that we are in a position where we would be able to have charges made. That is something that we need to consider and at this point we are just going to be in a holding position to wait until we have more information to move forward.

Mr. Speaker, that will be certainly a huge undertaking for us to accommodate the supply of power for electric vehicles. It is not an area for which we have done any type of research. I am not sure the department has that kind of capability at this point. I would be glad to undertake to work with the Energy Coordinating Committee to discuss this possibility. I would be pleased to provide a response to the Member. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I believe the Member had asked the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs that direct question. They have not come forward with any indication of interest to reinstate the program. Having said that, I am personally familiar with a number of communities that are now looking to chipseal the whole community through their new funding that they are receiving and they are planning to do just that. We, of course, are willing to provide any kind of advice if there’s a request made to this department. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, we did have a certain amount of slumping in one community. The town of Hay River’s airport had some problems. I think that was two years ago and that’s been rectified. That’s the only one that’s reported the concern regarding what could be potential climate change issues. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I haven’t been in this position long enough to attend the national conference with any of my federal colleagues. I would certainly be looking at the situation as the Member has raised to see what our position would be. Right now, we intend to work with the federal government on establishing some of the guidelines and be more focussed as we move forward towards the next conference. Thank you.

We’ll respond to all the different organizations that have contacted us over the last while regarding this issue and keep them informed as we move forward.

Mr. Chairman, we recognize there has been some difficulty getting the signs put up and getting them to stay up. Access is a really challenging issue to put signs in the ground or put signs up in the winter and to get them to stay up over the summer months is, of course, very difficult, and getting into and on the winter road in the summer is just something we can’t do. We did provide a couple contracts to individuals to put the signs up but it didn’t work out. We will, as the Member suggested, talk to our contractors that are always on the road system and maybe we can get some type of...