Wally Schumann

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is following through on its mandate to strengthen connections with public sector partners in order to invest in strategic transportation infrastructure.

Improving and extending our highways system helps connect communities, reduces the cost of living, improves the resiliency of our transportation system to climate change, and increases access to natural resources. I am proud to say we have carried out improvements to almost every highway in the Northwest Territories over the past two years. These improvements have been possible thanks to...

I don't think we have the full details on the catch, but from everything I have heard to date, it sounds like it is very similar to last year's quota. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as we move forward working with the fishing federation, primarily right now we will be doing exactly what Freshwater did, was to be able to do the primary sourcing of fish, cutting up round, and filleting. As far as doing secondary processing, that is going to be entirely up to what Freshwater wants to do moving forward.

We have committed $8 million through Bundle 1 of Building Canada Plan on this section of highway, and we continue to spend that. The Member has asked previously in a different sitting about guard rails, and I believe that this particular section of highway is actually getting some guard rails installed in the capital plan. I would have to double-check to verify that because we have so many different projects on the go, but I am almost certain that there are guard rails going in on this section.

As I have said, the department regularly reviews accidents that have happened on the highway, no...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have talked about this section of road quite a bit in this House. This is one of the busier sections of road in the Northwest Territories, particularly during the resupply of the mines. A number of residents live out that way. We will continue to what we normally do, doing our regular patrols, going forward. I suspect that I would have to get the exact details, but I imagine it is a daily patrol that is done by our department to check on the conditions of this section of highway, as well as maintenance which will be on an as- and when-needed basis. As I have said...

That is a very large question. It depends on which part I want to answer you, but first of all, we had 1.4 that we had in the budget and it is moving forward. The department in our conversations with the freshwater or the local fishing guys in Hay River, we decided that the Government of the Northwest Territories will proceed with this building.

Some of those reasons was the lack of access to capital and long stability for the industry. We believe that it is in the best interest of the fishing federation or for the fishermen in Hay River that we move forward with the plan. The Department of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have had ongoing discussions on this issue with the department. As of today, we still have not received a report, but my understanding is we will have it in the coming days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Manufacturing is a relatively small part of our economy in the Northwest Territories, but it is a very important one, I believe, particularly with the background that I have. It has high potential. The stats that I have been receiving from the department is, for every million dollars of output from a manufacturer in NWT, it creates more jobs, and these jobs are well-paid jobs compared to other industries in the Northwest Territories.

So we think it is of great importance, and a good use of our time and resources, to look at how we can support the diversification of our economy. Thank you, Mr...

Yes, we are absolutely looking how we can expand the manufacturing sector across the Northwest Territories. In fact, our team was recently in Norman Wells as of a couple days ago engaging with stakeholders and residents in the community to hear what we need to build a dry manufacturing in the Sahtu and what is possible there and what kind of ideas are brought forward. We will be doing this across every region in the Northwest Territories.

Yes, I will keep the Member informed as this progresses. Just as a note, if there is a consideration of doing something, adding a crosswalk to a highway system in the Northwest Territories, the cost is approximately $40,000 and takes 12 weeks to complete. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.