Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With the rise in numbers that is occurring right now, the Member is accurate. A number of these people are flying in here, but the rubber traffic is also increasing, not just locally, which is a large uptick on it, but we are looking at additional loops possibly in the North Slave. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Speaker, infrastructure investments help connect residents to essential services, lower the cost of living, increase our resiliency to the impacts of climate change, and support economic development. Today, I want to provide Members an update on priority infrastructure projects being pursued by the Government of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, in 2017 the Government of Canada announced its Investing in Canada Plan, which includes over $180 billion in infrastructure investments over 12 years. The Government of the Northwest Territories continues to work with our federal counterparts...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will have to get back to the department and get that information for the Member. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, I would, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do not believe there will be an exchange of money, but I can look into the details and get back to the Member on that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, we can do that.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will have to get back to the department to find out those details. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have tourism development officers in every region who look at doing this stuff, and I can have a conversation with them and how we can possibly look at expanding some of those things. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, the Government of Northwest Territories is in the process of reviewing Arctic Energy Alliance programs and services to ensure programs represent the best value for money on these programs and meet the goals that we want to achieve, particularly around our energy strategy moving forward. I can update the Member, as of right now, I think that we are in the process of awarding an RFP for that work, and it should be getting under way by next month. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member's comments are duly noted. Like I said, we are doing the engineering, geotechnical, and design work. This is also a two-year project, so we are going to try and get all that stuff in 2018-2019, and depending what comes out of that, in the second year that construction will take place. We will keep the Member informed on what is going on out there. We definitely do not want to be building something that is replacing an existing facility that is not going to meet the needs of the people. Thank you, Mr. Chair.