Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have already had a close look at this. This is the reason we bring this forward as a reduction in the Minister's budget proposal, and I stand behind the department's decision to bring this forward.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I need to know which road he is talking about. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I have said, we have our fund. We spend the money in the fund as requested by the communities. We think it is a good program. I made the point that we are not adding any money to this program this year due to our fiscal position that the Northwest Territories is in. I am not saying the fund is any less or any better than the Member, but I believe it is a great fund. All I am saying is, there are other avenues to help leverage this fund to actually bring more possible employment opportunities and projects to the communities of the Northwest Territories, and that is what...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As all Members know, it's in our mandate, all three parties, and the department is chasing all opportunities for all three sections of the highways, the Slave Geological Province, the Mackenzie Valley Highway, and the Whati one. The Whati highway, the federal government has made their commitment and, as I've stated in the House, it's going through its regulatory environmental process, and we will continue to work on that as it gains more traction and we continue to promote both the Mackenzie Valley Highway and the Slave Geological Province and focus on the ones that seem...

Yes, this is one of the things that we have looked at with the decision of moving forward. As the Member is well aware, the Dempster is closed 40 per cent of the time during this operation due to weather and unforeseen circumstances. Most of the suppliers have already had a serious look at how they are operating, have made adjustments to have extra storage capacity for propane and LNG in the community. Based around some of those decisions, that is why we are able to bring this forward in this year's budget.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe we are coming to give committee an update as early as next week and then, hopefully, in May/June looking forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I can hear what the Members are saying. This line item is one that has been well-used, as long as I have been the Minister here already. As you have seen, this government has put money into the Small Community Fund which we were talking today in the House. I think one of the opportunities we can look at moving forward with Members and other departments is how can we access working together with ECE with the Department of Transportation to make the best use of this money moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, there are two positions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, thank you for that. I appreciate the Member bringing it up. That is one of the things that was identified, and we are having a look at that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, I said we can make that commitment to sharing it with the Members as soon as we can.