Wally Schumann

As I alluded, there's five anchor points now available and as of today the slipways are being prepped and the timbers are being installed to launch the ferry. As of this evening, we plan on having the ferry into the Peel system and with more seaworthiness testing we're hoping to have the ferry service in operation by late Wednesday, early Thursday morning.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. We did experience an earlier spring than normal. As the river broke up early on the Peel and the Mackenzie it kind of caught the department a little off guard in getting some of these things. One of the issues with the Tsiigehtchic and Peel River ferries was we had scheduled Transport Canada inspectors to come in for the replacement bottom of the Tsiigehtchic ferry, and at the same time they're in there to do the Peel River ferry. With the early spring and stuff, it's kind of caught us off guard from our normal scheduling, so that's one of the reasons for...

The Member is correct. The department carried out and had a consultant have an engineering evaluation done on all the bridges. Through that evaluation process, the consultants provided various options for the cycle, the cost analysis on the replacement or rehabilitation of these bridges. The department has decided to go with the rehabilitation option on these bridges and we will be commencing work on them shortly on that.

I will look into getting that back to the Member for end of session.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Bundle number two the Member is referring to has gone through the process in the government system. We are waiting for approval from the federal government on bundle number two and we're hoping to hear by late June. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The consultants provided various options and life cycle costs of these assets. Their recommendation was to go with the rehabilitation option for the 35 years.

I can commit to the Member that that's something we can watch closely as things evolve and when Cooper is going to have their first sailing. I do know that the Hamlet of Fort Good Hope took the initiative themselves and cleaned off their landing space, but we will keep an eye on it and work with the Member to see if we can find a solution for this.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker. The barge landings across the Northwest Territories, including the one that the Member is talking about in the Sahtu region, are a federal jurisdiction. This is something that we have been working with closely with the federal government to look at to reinstate the funding that they have taken away from the territorial government approximately two years ago, so it's actually a federal jurisdiction, but we're working closely with the Department of Coast Guard and Fisheries to see if we can reinstate the funding for all ports. Thank you.

The department will do temporary repairs as soon as time allows. As I said, the early spring melt and the conditions that are out on our roadways is challenging. We will do everything that we have to do to ensure a safe operation of this road in the meantime but we have to wait for the frost to come out of the ground before we commence working on this, so temporary signage and stuff will be up to ensure safe travel for all.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker. To answer the Member's question, the Department of Transportation is indeed responsible for the maintenance and reconstruction of the Hay River road. This section of road was part of the highway devolution agreement that came forward in the late 1980s and the department has funded to operate and maintain this road. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.