Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, the Member keeps calling this an error and he keeps trying to blame MTS and that's not the case.

As I did in my Member's statement, there are all types of events that happened that caused this problem. It all started off, as I said in the House the other day with my Minister's statement, that's why we are sitting here, was because of the high water that knocked all the buoys out, the delivery of fuel to the Hay River terminal that didn't meet spec that delayed the scheduling to all the communities again, and this multi-year sea ice that came down.

We worked very...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, approximately, we would have had an extra $3 million in revenue to the bottom line. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As maybe not all Members realize, but, when you ship your goods on MTS, when you sign your bill of lading, there is no guarantee in delivery. That is right on there when you sign it. There is an option for customers to buy insurance, which we highly encourage for damaged goods and stuff.

As Mr. Vandenberg stated, we won't be compensating businesses, That is true. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am going to make it brief, but one thing I just talked to deputy what I want to do when we come in front of committee next week, I am going to find out exactly how many litres of fuel we delivered to the Arctic communities, and I am going to get a quote of how much it is to truck it to Inuvik to give committee a fair comparison on what it would cost. I think they are going to be pretty shocked.

For my closing comments, I thank all committee members for their questions. I think it is good that we have a public forum here to get this information out to the public. I need to reassure the public...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Companies like these two that the Member is referring to, they service a different market and do different types of work. Cooper's Barging, for example, maybe a lot of people don't realize, but they don't haul fuel. Their barges are only set up for deck cargo.

Companies like these, too, that the Member is referring to, they service a different market and do different types of work. Cooper’s Barging, for example, maybe a lot of people don’t realize, but they don’t haul fuel. Their barges are only set up for deck cargo. In rare, extreme cases they have hauled fuel on top...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I stated in the House, we have checked what is in stock in Sachs Harbour, and there is enough there to meet the demand until next sailing season. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. The first thing I want to highlight for the Member: I think us buying MTS had a positive impact on him because Lutselk'e had two years of delivery of goods and fuel in his riding.

What we are going to do from this point forward is, as I have said in various different statements, we are going to hire another communications person, work closely with the communities on goods and delivery of services to the communities. We are working with Coast Guard on the sea ice issue and a number of other issues that we are going to address, hopefully, with him going forward around...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Without getting the exact timing, my understanding is it took the Coast Guard about ten days to reposition the buoys. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. MTS is presently operating where it traditionally has in the past. The majority of our work is in the Northwest Territories, with some work in Nunavut and a small amount in Alaska. Thank you, Mr. Chair.