Tom Beaulieu

I don’t know if any of the regional recruitment positions are in the Mackenzie Delta riding. I can get that information. However, I do know that if there is a possibility that any of those positions would be eligible for the regional recruitment position, we would use that as a method to fill jobs. If a standard process was not working, then we would use a regional recruitment to fill those jobs.

That’s not in our plans. It is a federal responsibility and it’s unlikely that we will take money from our responsibilities and then expend it where the federal government has responsibility.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I had indicated earlier that we were going to take a look at how things worked with the current equipment for one season with what equipment was in place, and if it appeared to be very difficult for the community to manage, keeping the airstrip cleared with the current equipment, then the snow blower would be a capital item or an item that maybe they could work with the rest of the community to determine whether or not that would be high up on the community’s capital list as well.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can give the Member a snapshot of what we have on PeopleSoft October 31, 2014. There were 19 vacancies. Usually by September all of the positions in the schools are filled so that there will probably be no vacancies there, but with the rest of the GNWT there are 19 vacancies in the Mackenzie Delta at that time.

We will have our engineers look at this again along with the city and there will be some question on whether or not a flashing yellow light is a safe way to cross the road. It depends on the condition of the road and the lighting. I know that we have good lighting at Niven and if that is the solution, if they are able to cross the road and safely walk as far as the Legislative Assembly entrance, we will look at that along with the city.

The report has not gone to committee, but the report is on the website.

The solution would most likely be a capital solution, and we will work with the city and see if there is a possibility that we could bring something forward in the next capital plan. We know that almost any solution would be an expensive solution. Any time you have people crossing a highway, walking across a highway, it‘s not a safe thing to be doing. So, it‘s a solution that will likely be costly if we want to safely cross a highway.

This answer requires a little detail and I’ll ask the deputy minister to respond to that.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Building Canada Plan that we have been working with that we’re getting very close to rolling out does not include any expenditures to the Mackenzie Valley Highway. The national Infrastructure Fund, which is also under the umbrella of the Building Canada Plan, is again a different pot of money coming from the federal government. That is where we have our proposal. We’re trying to draw down some of that money. That is a $700 million proposal that we put in front of the federal government all to go towards the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

We’ll look into that alternative solution the Member brings to our attention.