Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Construction of the Canyon Creek all-season road access, we are expecting it to begin in March of this year, 2017. This is expected to be completed by October of 2018. We are very glad to announce this project. It is going to bring significant employment to the region, and training, as I said in my earlier comments. It is going to bring approximately 50 jobs to the region and help with the training aspect of a number of individuals. We contributed to our mandate working forward. Thank you for that, Mr. Speaker.

The department is working to advance the next priority phase of the project, the Bear River Bridge. In particular, the department is conducting a review of the original design that was done in 2005. What we want to do is make sure it is compliant with current codes and standards in addition to the funding that was received earlier in the new year. We are working on the Canyon Creek project to move that along. This project will bring training and experience gained by the Sahtu residents that will be used towards the next phase of the construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This manager position is located in Yellowknife. Its duties are a pan-territorial responsibility and it's best fit here in the ITI headquarters, and we have no plans on moving this position to Hay River.

As this is a mandated item for this Government of the Northwest Territories and it is my file and it's very important to me, if we don't make a deal before the end of this fiscal year I will be asking to carry this over in the summer.

When we get to the RFQ and the RFP processes, we will be sure we do our due diligence to incorporate as much northern content as possible. It would be my best understanding, I think, that whoever the proponent would be moving forward on this project is going to have some Tlicho involvement. I can't see that not happening. Who knows what's going to happen in the tendering process, but we will do our due diligence to make sure that all Northerners get to benefit from this procurement on this project.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The announcement on January 11th from the federal government was a conditional funding for this project from P3 Canada. As this project moves forward, the proposed or the estimated cost is $175 million for this road. However, the procurement for this project is undertaken through a competitive process, and the overall anticipated cost is not being released until the closing of that tender. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the 2005 and 2006 discrepancy, I believe 2005 is when the design was done for the bridge. Just to clarify that.

After that was shortly done, there was approximately 3,700 cubic metres of granular that was produced for the bridge near Tulita. That particular product is made for a specific use. It is made for high-strength concrete for when we go ahead and proceed with the building of the Great Bear River Bridge. It is not suitable for road construction or paths or that type of use within the community. I do suggest that the Member get a hold of our superintendent in Fort Simpson and ask him...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated, we had a number of meetings with different stakeholders on how we can improve the mining situation in the Northwest Territories. If we want to get into specifics, the solutions, I could stand here and probably talk about stuff all day from mining -- from staking in the industry in the Northwest Territories, to go online, to the regulatory process, to better geoscience information available, to junior mining companies, to socio-economic agreements, and how do we deal with Aboriginal governments moving forward, to land claims. As I said, our regulatory...

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by Mr. O'Reilly on October 20, 2016, regarding the hydraulic fracturing regulatory system.

I have worked with my colleagues in the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources and Lands, given their different roles in ensuring securities are in place for resource development projects. We have also engaged with the Office of the Regulator of Oil and Gas Operations.

I would first like to highlight that there is a polluter- pay system to ensure that government is not left paying for cleanups. The polluter-pay principle is fundamental to the...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following five documents entitled "Followup Letter to Oral Question 25518(2): Status of Mackenzie Valley Highway Business Case;" "Followup Letter to Oral Question 38618(2): Small Community Restricted Drivers' Licenses;" "Followup Letter to Oral Question 41918(2): Sahtu Winter Road Construction and Maintenance;" "Followup Letter to Oral Question 43018(2): Canol Trail Remediation Project;" and "Followup Letter to Oral Question 43218(2): Brush Cutting along the Dempster Highway."

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.