Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a follow-up to my Member's statement. A little background is, in the past, the ice roads opened at a weight limit of 25 millimetres and today, the changes that were made were, you now have to have 35 millimetres to open roads. I would like to ask the Minister: will the Minister be more flexible as we tend to have colder weather in the Mackenzie Delta compared to the southern part of our territory? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. The Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hope the Member is not talking about this winter. I think the Mackenzie Delta has been warmer than years. I will have to check into the significant change from 25 millimetre to the 35 millimetre for operation of the ice roads, but I do know, and I have said it in this House a number of times, safety is our number one priority for residents of the Northwest Territories.
We have guidelines for safe construction of ice roads in the Northwest Territories and I will endeavour to have a look into why the change took place from 25 to 35 millimetres. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Last spring, as we are all aware, the ice road closed quicker on the ice road to Aklavik. It was due to a little open section of water. Mr. Speaker, all we had to do at the time was block off a section of that road to ensure that vehicles didn't go near that open water, which was just alongside the road. Will the Minister block off any open sections along the ice road this spring, rather than closing the road all together?
Well, first of all, I'll say no to that, just to protect myself. There are a number of circumstances that have to be taken into consideration on the closure of these ice roads. One of the things is, as I said, we have a guideline around how we operate the ice roads in the Northwest Territories. Climate change is impacting how the Government of the Northwest Territories operates and how we build and maintain these ice crossings in the NWT, and it's become a significant challenge. Even this year, we're having some challenges right now with a number of overflow issues on a number of the roads. They're going to actually bring the cost up of operating these things continually as we go forward. I think the Member from Yellowknife mentioned that in his comments about climate change, how it's affecting us. We have warmer water that is flowing under the ice, and it can degrade the ice surface, the thickness of it, and it's not visible to the naked eye, and people assume that the road is -- just because the ice conditions look on the surface as they can be operated and it's cool out, warmer waters and river currents and stuff are having an effect on these things, and we have to continue to monitor them, and we will continue to do that, but safety is our number one priority.
The Minister talked about increased costs. Maybe if the Minister would listen to some of the things that we're trying to let them know of to bring the costs down, maybe those costs would be half of what they are today. Like heat trace, for example. The other question I had was: our contractors up in the area have years of experience with these conditions, and even your colleague next to you knows of this area that we're talking about, and over the years, it's been the same conditions in that area, and the people have a lot of traditional knowledge in that area. This spring, I'm sure, we may have to do it again, but will the Minister ensure that the department tests the ice in that area to ensure it's safe? If we have to block off a little section of the road, maybe a quarter or half, then, especially for light transfer, because it is safe for light traffic? To let residents, give them time to stock up for the spring. They don't have access to that road until next fall.
I agree, the contractors have a lot of experience in that region building these ice roads. It's been the same contractors off and on for a number of years, but at the end of the day, I'm the Minister whose head is on the line here if something happens. Safety is our number one priority. We will continue to monitor the situation going forward. I can talk to the department if there are any issues arising right now on that section of highway in the Northwest Territories. As I've said, I know that a number of our ice roads have challenges right now, and as you can see by the weather outside, it's going to increase. When it's plus six in Hay River right now, there are challenges right across the board, but safety is our number one priority. I will talk to our department. We'll have our superintendent have a look at the road and make sure it's safe to operate for everybody.
Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
