Wally Schumann

As the Member knows, he has asked me this question before in the House, and, with climate change in effect, we are monitoring these things very closely. We are looking at all options, up- and downstream, particularly at Fort Simpson right now. Being in the fiscal situation we are in, if I had the required funding, we could probably pursue some of these things, but I think we are going to have to continue to monitor the situation and look at all options going forward.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly will contact the responsible authority to accurately survey the river. We can do that around the ferry landings and the possible alternative routes. As I said in my previous comments here with the Fort McPherson ferry, low water is going to be an issue. We know that already because of the way things are looking. The one thing about the Fort Simpson ferry and that crossing, there is so much silt and gravel in that thing that the conditions can change on a regular basis and in a very short period of time, and there is also the gravel bar issue that is in the...

As I have said, historically, these have on average been in place by June 2nd, so, if we have them in by next week, we could be in as early as four or five days earlier than average.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The staff are out there working and doing their due diligence. I would have to get back to the Member on the exact timing that Transport Canada will be in there to do their stuff, but, from my indication, what I have gotten from the department so far is that we are on schedule to have both the Louis Cardinal and Abraham Francis ferries in the water and operational by next week.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following four documents entitled "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 502-18(3), Avalon Nechalacho Rare Earth Elements Project"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 567-18(3), Ice Bridges and Roadside Assistance"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 650-18(3), Sachs Harbour Power Generation"; and "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 670-18(3), Significant Discovery Licences."

On behalf of the Minister of Health and Social Services, I wish to table the following eight documents entitled "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 574-18(3): Mental Health Services Wait...

As the Minister responsible, I would be working with all of my Cabinet colleagues to strive to advance the Mackenzie Valley Highway environmental assessment, but, as part of that, the Government of the Northwest Territories' internal efforts to organize itself and move this project forward, the GNWT working groups will be created and led by Infrastructure to address specific issues. These working groups will consist of our government staff from various departments, of course, and agencies, and it is expected that youth issues will be addressed by the appropriate working groups.

As I have said, this is only the first stage of a larger CATSA project. We can take some lessons learned from this. Even the email that I sent out to all Members stating what was going on there, we will make sure that that gets out there before we start these things. I have to double check, though, for the Member, but I think, when you actually book your ticket, they actually notify you, the airlines notify you what's going on at the airport. I will have to check into that, but I have been informed, I think, that is the possibility of what's going on when you book your ticket.

You know...

I think the House will be very surprised with what we have done here. There were several communications tactics used to notify the public in advance, and I will be very specific: radio ads ran from April 24th to May 10th, that is radio ads; there were two newspaper ads, April 24th and May 3rd; posters were distributed to local businesses within the community, alerting the traveling public about the situation; several tweets were issued in the days leading up to the start of construction; and a public announcement was issued later to confirm the status and estimated completion dates.

Our regional staff in the area are always prepared to meet with the leadership and the community. If that is the desire of the community, they can certainly have the Member send me a request for that, and we can have our regional staff sit down and discuss options and hear their concerns. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

With respect to dredging and waterworks, they are extremely difficult to get approvals for. We know that. The current amount of debris and silt, as I said, that are in the river carries, I have been advised that any dredging operation would be of minimal value. I think I have mentioned that in this House before. For those of you who have been on the Liard River Ferry in the summer time, it is a very dirty river, and dredging might be of very minimal value, doing that. We do know that the low water in the channel that we used last fall, as I have said, with that gravel bar presents a problem...