Debates of February 3, 2006 (day 22)

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) As I said in my Member's statement, we have people living along the highway. There are cabins along the highway. A lot of our elders are practising their traditional lifestyle, and I'd like to ask the Minister a question. Will his department, the staff in Fort Rae, would they be able to plough the access roads to these people's cabins at least once or twice a month? That is my question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. McLeod.

Return To Question 330-15(4): Maintenance Of Highway No. 3 Access Roads

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the clearing of access roads to cabins is really clearly outside of the Department of Transportation's mandate. However, we have, in some regions, been able to come to some agreements in areas where there are no other contractors or no construction outfits to come and do that work. I would be pleased to be able to sit down with the Member to talk about the particular roads that he's referencing. There is some flexibility here where if there's a clear demonstration that there is nobody else that can do it, if he can demonstrate that there is a land tenure to this property, we'd consider it. Other than that, we have been refusing all requests up to now in this area because there are contractors out there that have raised concern, that they have demonstrated that they work in the area and they want to do that kind of work. So I'd be able to sit down and talk to the Member to discuss this further; however, as to going out and saying yes we're going to set up a process to start clearing access roads, that's not something we're willing to do. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Supplementary To Question 330-15(4): Maintenance Of Highway No. 3 Access Roads

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank him for his answer. We always talk about cooperation and working together. We had a meeting in Rae and we talked about how we can all work together as governments. As he has mentioned, he is saying that it is out of his mandate and he's talking like this is not the mandate of the government. But if you look at it, the government, all the communities are our government. It's very difficult if there's no access road to these cabins, so I'd like to ask the Minister a question. Is he willing to work with us? Whose mandate is it to help these people? Is it the Tlicho Government, or maybe he can sit with the Tlicho Government to have further discussion on this issue? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 330-15(4): Maintenance Of Highway No. 3 Access Roads

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I already offered to do that. I'd be willing to sit with the Member and the leadership of the Tlicho to discuss this. There are a number of concerns that come to the forefront, and we have relayed this to the Member. The contractors have raised the issue of us going into an area where they could go as private contractors. There is land jurisdiction that is a concern. Anything off of our highway right-of-way is a jurisdiction that could possibly be federal land, or it could be Commissioner's land. We need authorization to go onto that land. We may need land use permits. There are a number of things we'd have to work out. If some of these properties are on Tlicho lands, that may be a separate issue and I'd be glad to sit down and work with the Member to see what we can do. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Supplementary To Question 330-15(4): Maintenance Of Highway No. 3 Access Roads

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank him for agreeing to sit with us and discuss this. This issue is important to the people who live along the highway because the traditional lifestyle is very important that we are trying to maintain. I thank him again for agreeing to sit with us. We will have discussions with the Tlicho Government and also the federal government. So the sooner the better that we have this meeting. Maybe as soon as this budget session is over, we can arrange a meeting. So the Tlicho Government is also awaiting our decision here regarding that. Maybe we can set a date in the next couple of weeks to have this meeting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. I don’t know if I heard a question there; however, I will allow the Minister…I don’t know if the Minister heard a question or not. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 330-15(4): Maintenance Of Highway No. 3 Access Roads

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s pretty hard to answer when there is no question. I certainly will commit to sitting down with the Member in the next couple of weeks, or as soon as he can arrange with the leadership of the Tlicho, to get together to talk about this issue and see if we can find some resolution to it. Thank you.