Mr. Speaker, my question today will be to the Minister of Transportation, and it refers back to my Member’s statement regarding the airport issue and parking.
It may sound like a silly issue to raise, but this has been a problem over a long time. The fact is that we’re losing probably hundreds of thousands of dollars out there because no one’s charging for any parking whatsoever. That’s the fact. On the one hand, we have budget cuts because we can’t seem to raise enough money. We have to find ways. Yet on the other hand, we’re wasting or foregoing potential revenue that could be going somewhere useful.
My question to the Minister of Transportation is: will he heed my consideration by following up on it and getting rid of this silly machine and use a clipboard and a pencil and a double-check a couple of times a day to manage the parking out there properly and collect revenues? That is really the issue.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Yakeleya.
I thank the Member for his interest in improving transportation services across the Northwest Territories, especially with improving services at the airport, such as the territorial airport in Yellowknife. This includes the parking services. Over the years several different types of machinery operations and management systems have been placed at the Yellowknife airport and tested. Increased travel has caused us some difficulties in terms of finding a workable solution. I’d be happy to have some discussions with my colleagues and the Member as soon as possible to rectify this issue.
Mr. Speaker, my suggestion is maybe getting security out there to do a check maybe two, three times a day and maybe at the end of the day, because if you didn’t pay or get on the list, you don’t need to be out there.
Would the Minister take that into consideration? And can he give me some type of time frame as to when he thinks he can look into this and maybe report back to the House on any potential results?
As you informed the House, an RFP was issued out to the public. We’re happy to announce that Trafco, the contractor, has been awarded the contract. They’re working on it right now as we talk in terms of installing a new system for parking fees up at the Yellowknife Airport. I’m hoping that this new parking management system.... We expect it to be running this summer.
As we continue on with this project, I’ll be happy to inform the Members in the House in terms of when this system will be in operation for the public to start paying their parking fees at the Yellowknife Airport.
I was going to leave it at that, but the Minister couldn’t help but tease me with a new parking-management system that’s coming forward. So maybe we should get some enlightenment as to that. What does the Minister mean by that? Does he mean maybe the pencil, paper and clipboard technology I was suggesting, or is he going to spend another $20,000, $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 on a potential machine that we have no guarantee will work out there?
When we put in our operation system, the number of years we tested it — the old system.... Now we’re confident we have a new system that will be installed, that will be tested and that will ensure the public will be quite satisfied in terms of ensuring our revenues collected at the Yellowknife Airport will be satisfactory to the department. I will keep the Members informed and the House also informed as to the operation of the new system.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
