Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a few questions for the Minister of Infrastructure, in regards to the Willow River Bridge near Aklavik. Mr. Speaker, a lot of work has been done over the last number of years. I'd actually like to thank the department for the contributions they have given us over the years. Mr. Speaker, it's not as simple as just buying a bridge and putting it in place, even though it sounds that easy. Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of planning and engineering that has been completed to date, permits are in place, and we're now at the final stages for installing the bridge. Now, all we need is the proper funding to ensure that this work is actually done and the bridge is installed. So will the Minister continue to work with the community of Aklavik and their working group to secure funds to put the Willow River Bridge in place? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is there are still some outstanding issues with the Willow River Bridge; there is still some engineering work that needs to be completed, environmental approvals and permits that need to be put into place. What I can tell the House is, when the Premier and I were in Inuvik a couple of weeks ago, we took the time to meet with the Mayor and the regional director that we have for the northern region, to sit down and have a conversation about the challenges with getting this bridge completed. We've committed the regional director to sit down with all the proponents in Aklavik to have these discussions to see how we can move this project forward.
Mr. Speaker, like I mentioned in my opening comments, the engineering and planning has been completed and the permits are in place, so will the Minister commit to completing the Willow River Bridge by the end of the winter?
I will gladly sit down with the Member and make sure that the engineering work and the environmental approvals and permits are in place, but it's not Infrastructure's place to fund the completion of this bridge. We're going to have to figure out where we are going to get this money. I know from our bilaterals that we signed that there's a possibility that we can actually use something out of the bilateral around community funding with the Minister of MACA. We might have to have a look at that and what is going forward. We will continue to help support this initiative moving forward. If this work that the Member is stating is completed, it must have just been done here lately. We're certainly going to have to sit down and figure out a way as to how we're going to be able to fund this thing.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister is a professional at finding funds for projects like this. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister knows, we have a short window to do this construction up near Aklavik because we don't have an all-season road there at this moment but our work needs to be done within the winter months. So we have a short window of about three to four months. Mr. Speaker, it's very important that we have this money to complete this bridge. We're at the final stages, like I mentioned, so, now more than ever, we need this funding to complete this work. I'm glad the Minister is willing to sit down with the community, and I'm sure, once we do our tour there, we'll be able to sit down. However, would the Minister be willing to meet within the next couple of days? I know he's travelling tomorrow, but we have this evening to meet with our community leader who is actually in the community, in the city, at the moment, so will he commit to a meeting this evening?
I think the Member offered to buy me supper, so I'm coming. I can make time to meet with the MLA and the community leader after session today. Well, we have a meeting after session, but this evening. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
