Thank you very much there, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got some questions for the Minister of Transportation with regard to the ferry situation in the Nahendeh. Recently, our operations have been curtailed, particularly in Fort Simpson we’re running a 12-hour day as opposed to, like, an 18-hour day as it was last year. As well, there was a very late start in getting the Wrigley ferry operational. If it had happened to the one at Fort Providence it would have been completely unacceptable to Yellowknife residents. I say it is unacceptable to Nahendeh residents to have this kind of operations being curtailed. Will this Minister tell me when will we get engineers and regular captains set for our ferries in the Nahendeh? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, this year, at the outset of our ferry operating season, we did experience some problems acquiring the necessary engineers to operate the ferry at the Liard River crossing. We have now identified the individuals that are needed. We are in the process of recertifying some of the people that will be working in an engineering capacity for the summer, and that’s being done by Transport Canada. We have an official coming to the North to do that. We also experienced some problems with the Nduli ferry, and the contractor has indicated to us now that he has resolved that issue and we should have no further problems with the personnel with both of those ferries. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Supplementary To Question 4-15(5): Nahendeh Ferry Operations
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Just, once again, the situation particularly in Fort Simpson is that this shift in hours has really impacted the way that people do business. Previously you were able to go to Hay River and Fort Liard, in particular day trips and then back to the community of Fort Simpson. Just, again, I know that the ministry is working hard at getting the engineers and I would just like to urge, on behalf of the Nahendeh residents, to proceed in haste in getting these engineers. Just for question purposes I guess, Mr. Speaker, when is the Minister’s best estimate in getting the engineer and return of the regular captain at both ferries? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. McLeod.
Further Return To Question 4-15(5): Nahendeh Ferry Operations
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we’ve had to increase our staff requirements at the Liard River crossing from two crews that operated historically through the contract process to three crews now and we did have some shortcomings when it came to some of the engineers. The engineers that had worked for the previous contractor no longer wanted to come to work for the territorial government with some of the issues around the lack of vacation pay and issues of that nature. We did go out and seek individuals that could be recertified and we have Transport Canada coming to the North, I think it’s this week, and we should have everyone scheduled for crew rotations by the next coming days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
