Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my Member's statement, my first question for the Minister of Infrastructure is around the sailing dates and, importantly, has the department now, given the analysis of what happened last year, are they looking at sailing dates and, as importantly, communicating those dates out to the residents of the communities that will be ordering the goods and services for the barge? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, sailing dates and specifically cargo cutoff dates are typically communicated a little later in the spring as we're still waiting to see what the water levels might look like as we get closer into the spring dates.
I can say, Mr. Speaker, and I'm happy to say, that we have new director other at MTS, and the director was able to use the opportunity of NWTAC to make some connections and good connections with communities so that when we are able to communicate and as we're able to communicate, we're doing that in an effective way. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for that. Yes, and, you know, earlier the better when it comes to getting those dates out for sure. But I appreciate that they're are factors in that.
Mr. Speaker, I spoke in previous Member statements about the need to maybe look at logistically looking at Inuvik and/or Tuk or both kind of ramping them up a little more given that the difficulty we're having getting through the ramparts and sailing now and to maybe do some of that barging from Inuvik or Tuk all the way up to Fort Good Hope and certainly the coastal communities. Is that something that the marine transportation services are looking at to kind of building up some of that infrastructure this year? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are no plans at the moment to significantly modify the infrastructure that's up in the Beaufort Delta region. However, I can say that some of the -- there was a tug and a barge -- barges left up in Inuvik back in 2024 so that they are ready -- more ready and more able to move quickly as soon the waters are navigable. Obviously still hoping that this year's water levels come back and that we're not facing quite the same level of challenges next year but did take those steps to say that we are positioned so that at early parts of the season when, hopefully, things are easier to navigate that we'll be able to do so. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you for that. I appreciate that, Mr. Speaker. So it's my assumption, then -- and I know one shouldn't assume -- that the majority of the goods and services that are going to be transported into the coastal communities and the Inuvialuit settlement region will, indeed, look to be transported via truck to Inuvik and/or Tuk for those hubs to get that product into the coastal communities. Thank you.
Member from Inuvik Boot Lake, I got a little note given to me, please remember to slow down a little bit for our translators. Please and thank you. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so last year we were able to see successful delivery using -- in some cases coming up and around the top and utilizing Tuktoyaktuk as a delivery starting point as well as relying on the Dempster Highway. Obviously, there are challenges with both of those routes, Mr. Speaker, but we certainly were able to use those over the last couple of years and have always learned lessons to help improve it. So now I don't want to say that that's for sure the only option this year; we are still hopeful. MTS monitors water levels. We work with ECC's hydrology team about water levels, and the word's not final yet that the situation is unnavigable. So, again, for the moment, we're sort of keeping an eye on things. We've made plans to go in whichever direction we need to, and as with the last couple years, we'll be able to respond once the water levels are more clear. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.
