Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my statement, I have dredged up some more issues in Hay River, as normal. I just have a question for the Minister of Transportation. Has the Department of Transportation begun to solve the department this year through their budget of dredging?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue with dredging the port of Hay River is certainly a big issue. The port hasn’t been dredged in close to 20 years. The Member is correct; there is a lot of silt being built up there and the navigation channel is being blocked. We do have to find some substantial capital dollars, however, to have a dredging program there, that’s why it’s important that we continue the dialogue with the federal government in hopes that they will rekindle the dredging program that they ran prior to 1994.
My next question is: Does the department have any money in this year’s budget to assess the needs of Hay River’s dredging and what exactly is it going to entail and do, maybe, some cost estimates to bring to the federal government so we have something to bring to the table other than our hands out looking for money?
All we have allotted in this year’s budget would be $60,000. It would cost $3 million or $4 million to take a good run at a program to start with in the port of Hay River. It’s something that currently is the responsibility of the federal government. Again, we need to continue that dialogue. I know we’ve met in the past with Minister Lebel, and more recently with the parliamentary secretary, Mr. Steven Fletcher. We have to continue to impress upon the federal government the importance of dredging here in the Northwest Territories and, specifically for the Member’s point today, the port of Hay River.
I’m wondering if the Minister can use that money to assess Hay River’s needs and make some sort of plan so that we have a plan to bring to the federal government. We know in the past when they’ve had infrastructure dollars come forward, often it comes quickly, and we need to have some sort of plan in place. Will the Minister commit to doing that type of assessment and having that type of plan in place?
I think, working with the folks in Hay River, we could come up with a plan. I will commit to the Member today that I’ll go back to the department and discuss this option with them and, hopefully, we can formulate a plan on next steps when it comes to a dredging program for the port of Hay River.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay, Final supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
My last question is: Will the Minister ensure that this plan gets completed this year so that I can stop raising this issue in this House, hat we have a plan in place and we just need to go to the federal government? I’m willing to go with the Minister to discuss this issue if that’s what we need, or if we need to do lobbying to get the federal government to do this. But we need a plan in place. Can I get commitment from the Minister that this will be completed this year?
We have invited Minister Lebel north. Hopefully, he has some time this summer to journey to the Northwest Territories. Failing that, we’re trying to line up some more meetings in Ottawa with Minister Lebel and other Ministers. Certainly, if we can make a plan here before next fall and the timing is right, if the Member would like to accompany me to a meeting to talk about dredging and a program to dredge the port of Hay River with Minister Lebel, we can certainly look at that. We do need millions and millions of dollars to accomplish this. It’s not something that’s in the financial means of this government today, or the responsibility of this government, but we have to continue that dialogue with the federal government and we will do just that.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
