Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today will be for the new Minister of Transportation. In this House I have talked about dredging and the dredging requirements in Hay River. I’m looking to see what the new Minister of Transportation is going to do to complete the dredging in the Hay River area.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The dredging of any rivers or ports is the responsibility of the federal government. However, we have, in the past, participated and I believe in 2012-13 we got some money from the federal government and we did some dredging right at the port. So we continue to work with the federal government to see if there’s money that can be had to continue the dredging.
Thank you. The Minister talked about some of the, I think they call it dock maintenance that the GNWT did this year.
Does the Minister know how much money we’ve spent on dock maintenance this year and last year, and dredging in the Hay River area?
Thank you. We spent $30,000 in 2012-13 and $30,000 this summer of ’13-14. Thank you.
Thank you. I’m looking to see if the Minister will commit to assisting with the preparations and the assessment of what it’s going to take to complete the dredging in the Hay River area. I know it’s a federal responsibility, but I know the Department of Transportation has spent some money in this area, and I’m just looking for the Minister to commit to whether it has to be outsourced or in-house assessments of what the needs are to complete the dredging and what those costs are so we can take it to the federal government.
Thank you. The best thing the Department of Transportation could probably do is continue to work with the local industry and lobby the federal government for more money to do the dredging. The federal government recognizes that there are areas that have to be dredged, so it’s not like they don’t think it’s necessary. Everybody agrees that it’s completely necessary. We would be happy, as a department, to continue to work with industry. I would also be happy to facilitate a meeting between the federal government and industry in order to complete some dredging. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That was my last question. Is the Minister committed to talking with the federal government, talking with the Prime Minister to get federal funding to complete this project?
Mr. Speaker, we are aware that the Canadian Coast Guard is currently working on a place, so we will continue to engage them at that level.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
