Debates of February 15, 2005 (day 36)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement today I talked about the winter road in the Sahtu, the goat road we have up in the Sahtu. I think I’m going to ask some questions to the Minister. The Minister is aware of the concerns. He was in the Sahtu several times and has seen the road conditions. An official of his office made a commitment at a public meeting in the Sahtu several weeks ago, to travel that winter road and to make an assessment of the conditions. My question is for the Minister of Transportation. Will the Minister please provide the results of the recent assessment of the winter road in the Sahtu? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. McLeod.

Return To Question 384-15(3): State Of Winter Roads In The Sahtu Region

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to make it clear that we don’t provide funding for goat trails. We do, however, maintain the Mackenzie Valley winter road, and there has been concern raised over the section from Tulita to Norman Wells. We did have a number of meetings over the last while with the MLA and also with the community of Norman Wells, and we’ve had some written correspondence over the issue. We have looked at the condition of the road. We realize that we do not have the same level of maintenance and investment in this road as we had when we partnered up with industry for the last couple of years. We continue to do so in other sections. The Wrigley to Tulita road we have industry investing dollars there, and it has brought the road to a higher standard than we normally would maintain it; and also from Norman Wells to Colville Lake and Fort Good Hope. The conditions are a lot better than they normally are. We have increased our maintenance. We have looked at the road and we have decided that we should increase the maintenance on this road. We’re also reviewing our plans in terms of if our funding allocation for this section is still adequate, considering we don’t have a key player or industry investing in this section anymore. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 384-15(3): State Of Winter Roads In The Sahtu Region

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister touched on a key point of our winter roads and I hope that our goat road does become an acceptable highway system in the Northwest Territories. But the industry has used our winter roads quite a bit and, as you know, Mr. Speaker, It takes between 80 and 90 truckloads to haul a rig here and that we need to get the industry involved. I want to ask the Minister if he could please explain why the department is unable to reach an agreement with the industry, thus leaving the GNWT solely responsible for the cost of maintenance of the road even though it’s being used a lot by industry. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 384-15(3): State Of Winter Roads In The Sahtu Region

Mr. Speaker, we do have discussions with industry on a regular basis. We have had a number of discussions over this past winter and previous winters but, at the end of the day, we cannot force industry to invest in a road that they’re not likely to use. In this case, the road from Tulita to Norman Wells is not one that industry felt they were going to be using for the majority of the rig moves. A lot of the rigs were moved over last winter into Norman Wells or over the summer on the barging system. So there was no requirement for them to invest money and upgrade this road, so it fell under our responsibility to maintain this road with our dollars that were budgeted.

Again, we have looked at a number of initiatives to see if we can improve the safety factors on this road. After several discussions with the people in the communities of Tulita, Norman Wells and the people of the Sahtu, we have allocated and budgeted for signs. We’re putting a number of signs on that road. I believe the number is 650 signs that we’re going to be putting up and are putting up as we speak to improve the safety factor. We’re also setting up a series of meetings and we’re going to be unveiling or having discussions about the possibility of instituting a speed limit on that road to improve the safety factor. We have also increased our highway patrols into that area and we continue to do so.

There are a number of initiatives that we have provided for this section of road. If there is still a concern regarding the condition, I want to assure the Member that we are looking at the allocated maintenance budget for this road. However, upon our inspections -- and we do them regularly; our highway superintendent performs them regularly -- they tell us the road is safe, provided you drive at a safe speed limit and you obey all the signs that are being put up right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Holy cow!

Supplementary To Question 384-15(3): State Of Winter Roads In The Sahtu Region

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the phone call I received this afternoon said that motorists are going about 20 kilometres an hour on the roads in the Sahtu. That’s how bad they are. Also, the safety, Mr. Speaker, is a concern because I lost a close personal friend on that road several years ago with regard to the safety. I want to ask the Minister what he will do to ensure some type of negotiations for partnerships with industry for next year, to ensure there is much done to improve the winter roads in the Sahtu. I know you’re not able to force industry, but I think if you can assure the people in the Sahtu that some sort of partnership can be formed with them to ensure that the safety and conditions of the road are just like any other road in the territory. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 384-15(3): State Of Winter Roads In The Sahtu Region

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it should be clear that for most of the sections in the Sahtu area, the safety factor and the conditions have increased drastically as we now have industry investing in those sections. There is only one section of the road that is of concern that we’ve been hearing about and that’s the section from Tulita to Norman Wells. We have increased and doubled our maintenance on that road, we’ve provided signs, we’re going to incorporate speed limits, we’re sending contract crews out, and we’re actually doing some specific spotting on that road. We’ve looked at the bypass in the Norman Wells area. We’ve done a number of things. We’re also planning to spend $34 million in that area. How many more things can we incorporate? I’m not sure, but I want to assure the Member again that we are looking at this section of road; we are looking at our budget to see if we can do anything different for next year. We’ll continue to talk with industry; however, we can’t force them to spend money in an area that they’re not using. I will certainly commit to having those discussions with industry and keep up the pressure to help us pay for some of those roads and improve the conditions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A very short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Running the clock.

Supplementary To Question 384-15(3): State Of Winter Roads In The Sahtu Region

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, industry, I understand, spends millions and millions of dollars in the Sahtu. They want to come do business in the Sahtu. They’re using the roads. I think that’s part of where our government can negotiate with industry and say that they should bring some benefits and bring in some of the safety into the Sahtu. So I guess I would ask the Minister if he would look at coming to visit the Sahtu and see the conditions of the winter roads for himself. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. A short answer, Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 384-15(3): State Of Winter Roads In The Sahtu Region

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Sahtu is probably one of the regions that I’ve visited the most often in the last year as the Minister. I’ve been there three times and we’re planning to go there again. We are, along with the Premier, planning to drive the winter road all the way to Norman Wells in the next couple of weeks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause