Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Pages are an integral part of the operation of this Chamber and we’ve been blessed to have Pages from all over the Northwest Territories come and work with us. I really do appreciate all the work that all the Pages have done and I’d like to thank all the Pages that we’ve had over the years and the Pages that we’ll have in the future. In particular, I’d like to recognize a number of Pages who happen to live in the Great Slave riding who have been with us here since last Monday and are going to be with us here until March 12th, and those individuals are Shiri MacPherson, Chad Martin, Elizabeth Thomas and Anne Thomas. Thank you so much for joining us and thank you for all you do. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. I’d like to welcome everybody here in the public gallery. Thank you for taking an interest in our proceedings.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This being anti-bullying day, I thought I’d try to twist my questions into questions to the Minister of Transportation in the Sahtu. Our roads are rough, rough and rough. We have 1,444 kilometres of winter roads. That’s leading from Wrigley to Fort Good Hope, Colville Lake and to Deline.
I want to ask the Minister, given his recent awareness of our winter roads, especially from Norman Wells to Fort Good Hope, and the annual hand game tournament this weekend in Fort Good Hope, what is the Minister doing to fix the potholes, to fix washboard alley? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was fortunate to read the letter that was written by one of the members from the Sahtu, indicating how bad the road was and so on. We had not anticipated that the roads were that bad. We thought they would be improving.
When the Member and I drove on it, it was very early and it was rough, but the department considered that it would be improving. We recognize that we do need more money to continue to improve the winter road and that we need more money for watering and more grading cycles to be able to smooth out that road.
At this time we have a contract in place and the contractor is fulfilling their obligation. However, sometimes when we have a particularly rough winter road, it’s difficult for the contractor to keep the road as smooth as we’d like it. Thank you.
For example, from Norman Wells to Fort Good Hope is 147 kilometres. It is taking people four and a half to five hours to drive that section at 20 kilometres an hour. Compare that to other highways in the Northwest Territories, it’s ludicrous. You would not stand for it.
What is the Minister doing to either increase the maintenance or start the Arctic paving program and putting water on our roads so that our vehicles do not rattle apart and are not held by duct tape to get on the Sahtu winter roads?
Each year as we do the winter roads in all the areas, as we do in Sahtu, we have winter road teams. After the indication from the Member that the roads were particularly rough going into Fort Good Hope, we’ve deployed a winter road team. They’re looking at the worst spots, and we’re going to put some water on the worst spots and we’re going to grade it. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, for the Minister’s information, there are a lot of “worst spots” on the winter road. We also have people who are servicing the Sahtu. We have a fuel company from Hay River, Bassett Petroleum, starting to haul fuel into the Sahtu. Their operators have given a list of situations on the winter road.
From the observations of Bassett Petroleum who have been on the winter road because they’re doing the fuel haul to Deline and the other communities, is the Minister taking their comments to heart to look at areas that they’ve indicated that need some tender loving care?
As the Member knows, we’re very approachable; the department is approachable. When we get information from Members, we do try to attend to the areas that are in the worst condition. We know that we don’t have the money to improve every section of that road to what the members of Sahtu would like to see; however, we’re addressing the worst areas.
As I indicated, we’re approachable and we do want to fix the roads to the best of our ability with the money that we have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our winter roads can only last for three months and then they close down. I want to ask the Minister, given his assessment and the questions that we’ve been exchanging today and looking at this on a going-forward basis, can the Minister commit that next year we can have some type of pre-meeting with all the communities, contractors and operators and look at our winter roads and have a thorough discussion? We are still dealing with these issues from the past and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better, especially now that we don’t have additional funding from industry to put on our winter roads.
I will commit to having preconstruction meetings once the contractors for the winter road are selected next year in the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions today for the Minister of Transportation. About a year ago I asked the Minister of Transportation some questions and they were based on a commitment from the previous Minister of Transportation, a commitment he made in December of 2011, and I need to ask those questions again. The questions are around the review or analysis or a comprehensive review of the Deh Cho Bridge.
My first question to the Minister is: What is the status of the review, the analysis, the comprehensive investigation of the bridge project?
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a few deficiencies on the Deh Cho Bridge that we are continuing to repair. We believe that the bridge is very, very close to addressing all the deficiencies, although we will probably continue to always do a little bit of work on the bridge. After that, my understanding is that there was a commitment to do a retrospective analysis of how the construction of the bridge went. At this point we are looking at the possibility of doing that.
Thanks to the Minister for his comments. It was on February 13, 2014, when I asked the Minister whether or not the work on the bridge was completed, and his answer: “There is no further outstanding work to complete the bridge.” I’m a little surprised to hear that now there are deficiencies and we can’t start this analysis, this investigation, one that was supposed to be completed almost two years ago now.
To the Minister: He says now we have deficiencies and maybe then we’re going to start this retrospective analysis. When can we expect results from this analysis?
I’m just looking at what is currently happening on the bridge. There are a few things that have to be completed on the bridge and that’s from the original contract still today. After that, we are going to look at the analysis, a retrospective analysis that was committed in the House by the Minister of Transportation, and we will seriously look at that commitment.
As soon as the work is completed, which should be any time now, I will talk to the department and we will see about looking at starting the retrospective analysis.
Thanks to the Minister. This has been a very, very long time coming. We are four years now, well, not quite four years, but we’re three and a half years anyway from when the commitment was made. This was supposed to be completed in 2013. We’re now in 2015.
I’d like to know from the Minister why has it taken so long for this to get started, because I gather it hasn’t even yet started.
One of the things that I have been discussing with the department has been the value of a retrospective analysis and determining whether or not it is beneficial to do a retrospective analysis. We have a functional bridge that is doing what it’s intended to do. It was built within the allowable budget that was agreed to in the House. We’re looking at that and we’re determining whether or not there is some value. I realize that the Members want to see a retrospective analysis. I am trying to determine whether or not there is some value in that.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a little hard to be short when the Minister is questioning the value of this analysis. This was a P3 project which went from a P3 project to not a P3 project which was fraught with problems and cost us all kinds of money.
To the Minister: It’s not the value of the bridge itself, it’s looking at the process and the process that broke down and determining why it broke down and what we can do to make it better. Why will he not consider that instead of the value of the bridge? Thank you.
Thank you. The department’s opinion is that we would look at the value of it and if we think that we can do retrospective analysis fairly efficiently and not at a great cost to the government, we will do the analysis. The Member is right; we have not started on that, but if we make a determination that we think it is a valuable piece of information that will help us in the future and not just being done to show what has happened but something that has been done so we can learn from it, then we will do that analysis. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of ENR some questions on our FireSmart awareness campaign as we move into the new year and as move into the next few years about establishing a recognition program. I just wanted to speak of that Smokey the Bear-type campaign that is needed here in the Northwest Territories. Of course, we all know that Smokey the Bear is an advertising mascot created to educate the U.S. public about the dangers of forest fires, and one of the biggest ones is: Remember, only you can prevent forest fires. This was created in 1947 and today Smokey the Bear’s message is recognized in the U.S. by 90 percent of adults and 77 percent of children. So I believe we need something similar.
I was looking at the FireSmart Program and the closest thing we have to it is called Tuktu the Caribou. I’d like to ask the Minister for an education program, what’s the strategy going forward? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of ENR, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Member will bear with me…
---Laughter
…I’ll try to answer that question. If the Member has a specific example about what particular type of education program he would suggest, I’d be happy to consider that, as long as it is not too unbearably expensive. Thank you.
Thank you very much. I’ll certainly bear with the Minister myself there. While Tuktu the Caribou is a noble name, I believe that we can also do better. There could be Blaze the Beaver, Fire-free Fox, Wise Owl, Wet Wolverine, but what I’m getting at is I believe that we need a territory-wide campaign, something that we can identify with as residents, as children to be fire-wise and to protect our environment and putting out fires as we cook, et cetera. But I believe that we need a centralized way to do it much like the Smokey the Bear campaign in the United States. Thank you.
Thank you. I appreciate the Member’s suggestion and I’ll have a discussion with the department about how that would fit in. We’re only a couple of months away from fire season. It might be something that takes a little more time than that. It might get flagged for a transition issue with the government, but we’ll take a look at the Member’s suggestion and his comments will have a great bearing on the outcome. Thank you.
Thank you very much. It is about getting back to the “bear” necessities. I’m certainly glad that he’s willing to listen to it and if the Minister can speak with his officials, it’s at the formative stage. It’s an idea that its time has come. We have always spoken in this House lately about how much we are growing. I think a little thing like this will bring the Northwest Territories together and generate having a focus point and something we can identify with as we want to be fire smart and protect our resources.
Once again, if they could take that idea and run with it. He also committed to it. I don’t have a fourth question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. More of a comment. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Transportation today. It has been at least 10 days since I brought up the issue of dredging in the Northwest Territories being a requirement and a need.
Has the Minister sent off any communication to the federal Minister responsible for dredging to deal with this issue? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I have. Thank you.
I’m going to have to pry the details from the Minister. Can I get more detailed information? Was that letter signed off, and which federal Ministers was it cc’d to and who was it communicated to? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The letter was sent to the Minister responsible for Fisheries and Oceans. He is the Minister responsible for dredging. I don’t recall all the cc’s, but I believe we sent a copy to the Minister of Transportation and the Minister of Public Works. Public Works Canada were the last people to put any money into dredging back in 2012, at the end of the fiscal year. That’s when the last $60,000 was spent on the dredging program in Hay River. It was essentially pointing to the issue at Hay River. There was some issue with barging and getting in and out of the port in Hay River. Thank you.
The Members have been talking about dredging in the Northwest Territories. I have heard some rumours of numbers out there.
Does the department have any estimates on what the dredging costs in Hay River and throughout the Northwest Territories would be? Thank you.
I don’t have the number for the dredging of the Hay River port, although we do have that number at the department. I don’t have the number here with me. I don’t believe we have a number for all of the dredging that would be required for the entire waterway where the company out of Hay River would haul freight. I don’t have that full number, but I can let the Member know what the number is for dredging the Hay River, our estimate. Also, we can get estimates for other parts of the waterway. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, I would take that information. I look forward to that.
I wonder if I could also get a copy of the letter that was sent to the federal Minister. Thank you.
Yes, we can provide that letter to both Members for Hay River. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just following up on my Member’s statement, I wonder if I could ask the Premier, given the absolute failure of the consultation effort to date on this sweeping legislation, seven acts that we’ve mirrored, adopted completely from the federal government, what will be the revised consultation program that he’s going to put in place? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
