Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Transportation is going to mothball the Merv Hardie ferry. With the opening of the Deh Cho Bridge, the ferry service is no longer required at Fort Providence. Although the department has no intentions of selling the ferry or disposing of it, there are no plans to use it, either.
We need that ferry at the crossing in Tsiigehtchic. The Merv Hardie is a bigger vessel than the Louis Cardinal that currently services the river crossing in the Delta. Its bigger size allows it to transport more goods in a single trip.
That ferry supplied the entire city of Yellowknife and the North Slave region for many years, hauling all the material for this city and the Tli Cho communities could ask for. They built this city with that ferry. Just think of what it could do for the communities of the Mackenzie Delta.
The Merv Hardie can also run longer than the Louis Cardinal. Two hours every day over the course of the summer can really add up. A longer operating season across the river at the Tsiigehtchic crossing will also result in lower costs and help reduce the cost of living, overall, for the people of the Mackenzie Delta, and also extend the supply for liquid natural gas for Inuvik in the fall season.
Before the Merv Hardie is put into permanent storage and begins to fall into disrepair because of it not being used, the Department of Transportation should seriously consider moving it up the river to serve the Mackenzie Delta. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
