Thank you, Madam Speaker. I just had to send a message to the Minister of Infrastructure to confirm she remembered a conversation we had on the weekend.
Our highway system everybody here is, you know, drives the highway systems at one time or another. We know our highways are narrow. We know that, you know, we get blowing snow. We get dust. And one of the things that we see, you know, occasionally, and from time to time, is we see emergency vehicles assisting people on you know, on the highways. And so what I guess I'd like to ask the Minister is the Minister aware of safety issues related to the visibility of emergency vehicles using amber lights only? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I spent the weekend with the MLAs in Hay River, and we had lots of discussions so I was a little bit worried about which discussion we had because there were plenty, but we did have a conversation on you know, on the concern of the tow trucks that are out on the highway and some of the Alberta regulations versus the Northwest Territories regulations. So, yes, I'm aware of that. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. So I am pleased that the Minister was listening. Is the Minister aware of the use of combination of amber and blue lights for tow trucks in Saskatchewan and Alberta, and they use that to increase safety when they're responding to accidents? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. So the research concludes that the amber light is the most viable combination in low light conditions as well as bad weather, you know, which is often when tow operators are doing their most dangerous work. So, yes, we are aware. And that is something that we can perhaps look at. I'll leave it at that, and I'll see what other questions he has. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. So she's hitting 50 for 50 so we'll see if she passes the exam. I'd like to ask the Minister does our current legislation allow for the combination of lights to be changed? For instance, if tow trucks wanted to go to amber a combination of amber/blue, is that possible within current legislation? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, that's a really good question. You know, this is something if Alberta is switching the regulation, we need to determine whether this is a regulatory change or a legislative change. Once we determine that and we could be able to determine what time how long this takes to get done, whether we have to do some consultation or whether we have to do some committee work. We just need to dig a little further into whether it's legislative or regulatory. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. And I'll save the Minister some time. Yes, you have to change the regulations, and you have to change the act, and I would ask you to change the act and allow for changes in light combinations to be set in regulation, and I think that you do have some changes coming up the Motor Vehicles Act this you know, fairly soon, and I would ask the Minister to commit to trying to incorporate this in that in those changes. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, that is correct. I do have another change coming up to the Public Highways Act, and if this is something that we need to bring forward to this House, then we can do it. The motor vehicle equipment regulation is the prohibition on the blue versus amber light. So this is something that we can look into. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
