Agreed.
Thank you. Page 11-17. Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yellowknife has a territorial airport, the largest one in the Northwest Territories where most product coming in by airplane lands first, often. There is a lot of talk about economic opportunities and where we are going as a Territory in the future. I think an airport like the Yellowknife Airport can play a significant role in our future, but it would require some lengthening and some work so that we can land larger planes, international planes which would allow us to bring in planes from Japan or Germany which would support tourism but it would allow larger planes bringing up product and supply which could help industry as industry is moving forward.
We need to support industry and Transportation has a role in supporting business opportunities and the economy in the Northwest Territories. For years, Edmonton was known as the gateway to the North. It isn’t necessarily appropriate anymore. I think Yellowknife could be the gateway to the North. Is there much in the way or any planning work being done to capture and take advantage of some of the opportunities that exist economically by way of making our runways in Yellowknife a little longer, a little bit more appropriate for larger international airlines?
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is an issue that has been discussed a number of times over the years. We have also continued to engage on those discussions with different agencies, including our tourism folks in NWT. We have identified this as a potential project in our Airport Development Plan that we have for the long-term strategy. Right now we still haven’t put together a business case that would warrant an extension. Of course, we are interested. We just don’t have it ready to be brought forward at this point. It would still require a lot of discussion and being able to demonstrate it is required and it is viable. Thank you.
Thank you for that. I hope that the department keeps moving forward on that. Just for the record, we talked about tourism. I am interested in tourism. You mentioned tourism, but tourism is not the only area that would benefit from an extended runway. Exploration in the Northwest Territories, mining in the Northwest Territories could all benefit from a more or longer and more substantial runway. This is more of just a comment, but I think work does need to be done in this area.
In light of the fact that we just signed an agreement-in-principle, we are moving forward with devolution. Our future looks fairly bright in the industrial sense, mining, resource, extraction done responsibly. There is nothing wrong with planning a bit ahead and being ready for when those opportunities present themselves. The benefits of devolution probably are still years off, but they are coming. There is no time like the present to be ready. There is no time like the present to start your planning. I would strongly encourage the department to not let this one slide. This is a huge opportunity for the North by way of greater access to the North. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, there are a number of benefits that could be brought forward and pointed to as the discussion moves forward on lengthening the airport runways. Right now the domestic flights we feel are okay. It would be probably a desire to have the polar flights have the ability to land at our airports and take off from the airport. Right now they can land but they would have to restrict their weight as they left. That is the challenge. We still need to be able to put the business case together. We need to be able to demonstrate the need. I am not sure if we can do that at this point and whether we as a department are ready. I would say we are. We have the land, we have the plan, we just need to be able to build a business case that would be acceptable to all. It would require significant investment and, of course, there is the challenge of dealing with all our needs across the Territories. Once we can put all the components that are required to build a business case, I am sure this would be able to move forward relatively quickly. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, I look forward to hearing more.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Committee, we are on page 11-17, Transportation, activity summary, airports, operations expenditure, $29.033 million. Agreed?
Agreed.
Thank you. Page 11-18, Transportation, activity summary, airports, grants and contributions, contributions, $30,000.
Agreed.
Thank you. Page 11-19, Transportation, information item, airports, active positions. Agreed?
Agreed.
Thank you. Page 11-21, Transportation. Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Some of this is going to sound the same. Like I said before, Transportation plays a key role in our economic future. Transportation and opening up our communities is super important to our ability to have a strong economy; strong, healthy people. Highways are obviously a critical aspect just like our airports. One area that I mentioned in my opening comments or opening comments on your general remarks on your opening comments was the Deh Cho loop. I have driven it. It was a wonderful drive. Fortunately, I think I was driving at the one time of year that the Liard Highway was good, because all I hear is really bad stories about the Liard Highway. I will admit right up front I took a Yaris down it and it was okay, but I heard people driving four-by-fours three weeks later were getting their cars destroyed on the same road. Clearly I got lucky. But it is a wonderful road. It is a wonderful opportunity. The land is beautiful. There is a lot to see.
If we were to invest some additional time and money in finishing the link between Simpson and Liard, we would have a second access point, a second quality access point to the Northwest Territories, or North Slave and South Slave anyway, which would be great for tourism. It would allow those communities greater access to affordable goods, because a different quality of trucks would be able to use the road. I sure would like to see more progress made in that area. It would be a benefit for the whole Northwest Territories.
I understand it is not as simple as capping a road. I understand that that road needs... They have significant work right down to its base. I am wondering what the timeline is on and what type of planning is currently underway by highways to upgrade that road so it is a more reasonable link into the South and North Slave regions.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Minister McLeod.
Mr. Chairman, the concept of having the Deh Cho loop is a good one and certainly something that we support. The road is a part of our Territory that is very scenic. There is a lot of wildlife in the area and it’s still virtually very pristine. However, during the spring months, during the spring thaw we have many challenges as the road becomes very wet. There are issues with drainage and we have a very poor sub-grade. It was a road that was built many years ago and it’s at a point in its life where it needs to be reconstructed and we have undertaken to start that process. We’re on our third year of investment and making headway has been very difficult as we’ve seen the road slump and deteriorate in some areas that are not part of our construction plan and has required us to redirect our investment into those areas.
As to how many years it would take to do the whole loop that is a difficult one to answer. I can only speak for the time that I’m here and what’s in this budget, and it would really be conditional as what’s available for investment and what the priorities are for the next government and future governments. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for that. I would encourage the Minister, as part of transition planning, to put some additional attention on that within the department and continue work and the good work that you’re doing to upgrade that road so it is a reasonable road.
My second question is what is DOT, the Department of Transportation, doing to work with industry and Aboriginal governments to improve winter road access to both the Tlicho communities as well as the North Slave Geological Province? Both of these are economic; the cost of living in communities, but also resource extraction and development and industry in the Slave Geological Province. So who are we working with, what are we doing to improve these links so that we don’t have to worry as much about things such as a warm winter season and short life of winter roads?
Mr. Chairman, I hear the Member’s request for us to keep moving forward on the Highway No. 7 portion of the Deh Cho loop. We have all intentions of doing that. We are hoping to have all our engineering requirements that would give us a better ability to develop a long-term strategic plan for improvements on the road. We also, as part of the Deh Cho loop have done quite a bit of work on Highway No. 1 in terms of upgrading, reconstruction and also chipsealing. We’d like to continue that and that would really enhance a good part of what’s considered the Deh Cho loop.
We are also working in the area of the Tlicho region and the focus has been to realign the winter road in that area. Right now the road is constructed mainly on the lakes and a lot of river crossings, and it’s our desire to move the winter road onto land rather than water. We have set up a steering committee with the Tlicho communities, the leaders. We had all intentions to be a lot further than we were. However, during the last government there was a request for us to stop all work that was being considered for the Tlicho winter roads, and we did oblige the government-of-the-day and have since had everybody back in the room and had some good discussions on moving forward and we have not engaged our study process and that’s now being done. That, again, will be used for consideration as we decide what investment will be made and how much money we’re going to require. Thank you.
Thank you and thanks to the Minister for that. I remember the discussions about the Tlicho and I’m happy to see that they’re back at the table and that progress is being made in that area. I think those realignments will ultimately help reduce the cost of living in those communities, which is a priority of this government. So thank you for that and please keep going.
The second part of the question, which I didn’t hear a response to, was winter road realignment up to the North Slave Geological Province. In 2006 we lost the winter roads early, which resulted in significant costs to the mines that are in that area. Now I believe that there’s been some talk about realignment, there’s been some talk about an extension to extend the winter road season in the North Slave Geological Province, which would open it up a little bit more for responsible development. I’m wondering what progress is being made in that area and has the department been having any conversations with the federal government about possibly partnering or doing something to extend the winter road life in that area specifically by realigning on land as opposed to water.
I apologize for missing the question. I wasn’t clear on that area of questioning. Mr. Chairman, we have undertaken to access some dollars from the federal government through the P3 Canada Program to do an assessment and a study of a portion of the winter road for consideration for realignment. That process is already underway and we are in the position where we’ve put out an RFP to do a study on this section of road.
That must be the RFP that came out today. There was something in contract opportunities that came out today for a seasonal overland road financing option study in the Slave Geological Province. I’m assuming that that’s what you’re talking about. You can answer that when we’re done.
The second thing is I know that Yellowknives Dene and other groups are interested in helping or participating in some capacity to build capacity of their own on some of this winter road realignment and future of transportation in the North Slave Geological Province. Have any partnerships been weighed with the Yellowknives Dene or Deton’Cho with respect to helping them build capacity so that they can be involved in the future of the North Slave Geological Province, transportation in the North Slave Geological Province?
Mr. Chairman, the answer that the Member is referencing has been part of the Slave Geological Study is correct. That’s the contract that I was referring to and, yes, we do have members of the Yellowknives Dene First Nations working with us in consideration of this project. They have representation on the steering committee and we’re also, of course, as you know, Mr. Chairman, we have been talking to the Yellowknives Dene on doing some partnership project work that needs to be done on the Dettah access road.
Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Committee, we’re on page 11-21, Transportation, activity summary, highways, operations expenditure summary, $58.094 million.
Agreed.
Page 11-22, Transportation, activity summary, highways, grants and contributions, grant, $96,000.
Agreed.
Page 11-23, Transportation, information item, highways, active positions. Agreed?
Agreed.
Page 11-25, Transportation, activity summary, marine, operations expenditure summary, $7.976 million.
Agreed.
Page 11-26, Mr. Abernethy.
Can I go back to 11-25, Mr. Chair?
Does committee agree that we go back to page 11-25?
Agreed.
Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In this section I just want to highlight comments from my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen when she was talking about access into the Hay River. Under this section, I know this is mostly ferries, ferry operations and whatnot, but is there any capacity within this division to work with Hay River to partner with the federal government or any other partners about possibly dredging that channel to increase the transportation links out of Hay River? The shallower that gets the more difficult it is for significantly-sized boats to get in and out. Does this division have any responsibility or any ability to leverage, partner or work with any group to get that channel dredged or is this completely just ferry operations?
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Minister McLeod.
Mr. Chairman, the dredging issue really doesn’t fall under our mandate as the department. However, having said that, we have concerns in this area as it has impacts to many areas of different sectors of the North. We have the marine traffic and the fishermen that are voicing concern. There’s also the issue with the municipality on some concerns that the island that’s being created in the middle of the river is causing or is certainly not helping with the flooding issues that are happening on the Hay River and to the municipality of Hay River and also to the Hay River Reserve.
We have engaged with several departments now to bring this issue to their attention. We’ve had some discussion with the Coast Guard and they’ve indicated that there is a desire to look at it. As of yet there have not been any dollars identified. We have done some studies on their behalf to look at how serious the issue is. There may be more work that needs to be done to assess the situation. We want to keep pressing this issue. We did raise it with Minister Strahl and he indicated he would bring it to the attention of Gail Shea, the Minister responsible for dealing with this issue, and we will continue to have these discussions in the next while.
Thanks to the Minister for that. Obviously, as per its name, Hay River is a transportation hub and that river has access to the lake and, therefore, access to the Mackenzie River is critical as far as transportation links go in the Northwest Territories. I’m happy to hear that the Minister is attempting to do something in this area and I encourage him to keep doing so. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have one question here. In terms of the bridge and the opening of the bridge and then the cessation of the ferry and/or the ice road, can the Minister advise how long the ferry or the ice road construction will continue on after the bridge is open? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister McLeod.
There would be no need for the ferry or the ice road once the bridge is open.
Okay. So I guess that means when the ribbon is cut then the operations cease. Is that right? Thanks.
I believe that’s correct. Would you like to confirm that, Minister?
Agreed, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Any further questions on page 11-25, committee? Transportation, activity summary, marine, operations expenditure summary, $7.976 million.
Agreed.
