Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Dempster Highway and the Inuvik-Tuk Highway experienced one of the worst summers and one of the worst falls in recent years. Mr. Speaker, as we know, this is a vital link for the residents of the Beaufort Delta for products and services. Mr. Speaker, I've been inundated with emails, phone calls, and texts, and I know that the Minister of Infrastructure has certainly received her share of correspondence from the management of the trucking companies in the Beaufort Delta as well, Mr. Speaker.
To put it in context, we have about -- one company alone has about 15 trucks a week. Those are semi-tractor trailers travelling up the Dempster Highway and in some cases into Tuk as well. Mr. Speaker, we've had situations where drivers of those vehicles, and broker drivers from the trucks that are brokered to the trucking companies, have refused to drive up the highway simply because the maintenance costs have been so high and the delays. There's instances where because of the delays on the highway and the distance to get there, the additional hours required to come up the highway, companies, Mr. Speaker, have had to hire extra drivers which, of course, legally you can only drive so many hours in a day, that again adds to the cost of getting that product to our communities. And as well, Mr. Speaker, you may end as well with drivers that don't have the necessary experience to navigate the road systems up there as we know are unique.
Trucking companies have seen more claims, Mr. Speaker, more products coming up. Some of our products obviously have shelf lives that have been reduced. Products, liquid products such as soft drinks and so on and so forth, have seen more damage, more claims, given the condition of the highway. And, again, that affects the residents and it affects the products that we're getting up there.
Mr. Speaker, as well residents who typically would drive out either for family vacations or to take a vehicle to one of the dealerships in Whitehorse, I've had stories, Mr. Speaker, where they've left, packed their families up to head down the highway, and turned around and came back simply because it wasn't safe enough to drive that highway this year, Mr. Speaker. So, again, I'll have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure on what we're doing to ensure this doesn't happen again and what caused those delays this year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Members' statements. Member from Sahtu.
