Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I heard the Minister once mention we were talking about highways, and she had mentioned that it's kind of our highways are kind of graded on a comfort level, I think, and she said something like four out of ten is what we look at which, I guess, isn't all that great. And when I look at the highway system here in the territories, you know, anything that had pavement on it, we're chip sealing. So I guess I'd like to know from the department is at any point do we look at the or do we compare the chip seal to actually paving and what would be the cost benefit, I...

Thank you, Madam Chair. And also looking at the RCMP units, I see they do have a crawl space there and those buildings are in the area where flooding did occur. I'm just wondering what consideration was given, I guess, to mitigate any future damage by flooding in those buildings and if, you know, and if we've got insurance on them, I guess, or if there's insurance on them, does it cover flooding? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my statement, spring breakup is six months away. So it is important this government has a plan in place with measures to mitigate potential flooding for Hay River. Mr. Speaker, has the Minister of ENR considered establishing a group within his department to take on the responsibility for flood and ice management? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, I look at the list here and it's fairly extensive, and then I look at Hay River and I see 29 units. And I'm just for retrofits, major retrofits. With the flooding that happened this last spring, I'm just wondering where we are with those retrofits; has flooding impacted the work that's being done? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, I look at this and I see diesel, and we talk about greenhouse gases and that. Has there been any thought, I guess, into looking at an alternate source, I guess, of fuel to for some of these, you know, smaller communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With respect to moving, I guess relocating the diesel plant, will all the equipment be relocated, or will there be some major upgrades to it while, you know, this process goes on because I guess it makes sense to me that if there's any major changes that have to be made, any new equipment has to be put in, now's the time. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And with respect to I guess costing this project, do we have a preliminary cost, and are we and if we do, are we updating that as, yeah, I guess prices and availability of material becoming a problem? Thank you.

No further questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just looking at the work that's going to be done on the highway, I notice that, I guess and it might be there somewhere but I don't see, I guess Highways 2, 4, 5, and 6 on there. And I guess my concern is probably more so Hay River, which is Highway 2, about Kilometre 42 to 48, which is in dire need of work. Can the Minister tell me if that's included in work for this coming summer? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess the other is drainage and culverts. We've had a number of washouts because of high water, and I'm just wondering, I guess, have we, I guess, assessed all the culverts along the highway to see if they meet standards, because it seems like, you know, this last couple years we've been having a frequent number of washouts and the amount of water coming down, the culverts just can't handle them. Thank you.