Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is also to the Minister of Transportation. It’s in regard to the issue that there was a motion passed in this House concerning roads to access sources in Tuk and Aklavik. The constituents of Aklavik have been calling me and wondering why it is that there’s a million dollars earmarked for Tuk but zero dollars for Aklavik. I’d just like to ask the Minister: what exactly is the process that has to be followed to ensure the residents of Aklavik will see an access road to their gravel source?
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Yakeleya.
I want to assure the members of Aklavik and also the MLA for Mackenzie Delta that, through the discussions and exchange with the Premier and myself, we are committed to going into Aklavik to look at the access road and at what it will cost us. We have our numbers; Aklavik will have their numbers. We’ll look at a partnership arrangement and see where we go from there.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Mr. Speaker, the residents of Aklavik want some assurances that they will get a road at some point. It’s been 30 years in the works, and it continues to proceed. The residents in other communities were able to receive budget allocations through this process, yet in Aklavik they weren’t. I’d like to ask the Minister if he has any resources that will be earmarked for the community of Aklavik to develop that plan or proposal so that he can also forward a similar proposal to Ottawa by way of the Building Canada Fund.
The department is definitely committed. The Premier has stated his commitment. We need to get into Aklavik and show our commitment as other communities have shown theirs. We certainly want to sit down with Aklavik. We want to look at the best way to approach this access road to the people of Aklavik and start working on it. We need to get there and look at the final numbers and sit down and get to work.
As I’ve mentioned, this has been in the process for 30 years. We’ve heard of commitments before.
I’d like to ask the Minister if he would put this commitment in writing so I can post it in Aklavik, where the residents can see it.
I’d like to ask the Minister if he can also commit to me a date and time for the meeting in Aklavik. We were looking at July, somewhere in the second week. Does he have a date nailed down for the residents of Aklavik that will allow us, by way of having a public meeting, to discuss this issue publicly? Does the Minister have a date at hand for a public meeting?
I’m certainly looking forward to going to Aklavik sometime, but I need to sit down with my colleagues and Mr. Bowden to see about talking to and arranging a meeting with the people in Aklavik and to sit down with the MLA in terms of coordinating the dates. I’m hoping to go to Aklavik and have this very important meeting sometime in the next couple of months. Of course, that means coordinating all our schedules to get into Aklavik.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
