Thank you. Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minster of DOT in regards to the marine landing in three of the Sahtu communities. We seen a significant amount of, I would say, left-behind ice in our three community dock landings, and my understanding there's an existing federal program in that jurisdiction. I'd like the Minister to elaborate if that exists on the clearing and maintenance of the barge landings. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Transportation.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker. The barge landings across the Northwest Territories, including the one that the Member is talking about in the Sahtu region, are a federal jurisdiction. This is something that we have been working with closely with the federal government to look at to reinstate the funding that they have taken away from the territorial government approximately two years ago, so it's actually a federal jurisdiction, but we're working closely with the Department of Coast Guard and Fisheries to see if we can reinstate the funding for all ports. Thank you.
It seems that there is a commitment there or a program that we're waiting for. In the meantime, in particular one community in Norman Wells is expecting the barge to land here momentarily and we'd like the ice to be cleared so if the Minister could elaborate and clarify when would this be reinstated and if the dock landing would be cleared prior to the barge landing momentarily.
I think it's a little premature to say the barge is going to be there shortly. I know that the sailing season historically leaves Hay River in late June. I'm not saying that is all this ice and stuff is going to melt on these landings, but this is definitely a federal jurisdiction. It is something that has been pointed out in the CTA report along with other issues across the North, and we will continue work with the federal government to see if we can reinstate this funding to make sure all the ports and harbours in the Northwest Territories have access.
There is the secondary carrier in our barge landing schedule called Cooper Barging and they do sail before the lake ice allows NTCL to leave Hay River and that arrives in Norman Wells on a scheduled basis. They are actually going to be the first one, so if the Minister would elaborate a little bit more on an interim solution I would say incurred by this government rather than waiting for the federal response, in particular for the landing in Norman Wells.
I can commit to the Member that that's something we can watch closely as things evolve and when Cooper is going to have their first sailing. I do know that the Hamlet of Fort Good Hope took the initiative themselves and cleaned off their landing space, but we will keep an eye on it and work with the Member to see if we can find a solution for this.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
