Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, follow-up to my Member’s statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Transportation. Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in this House, the community of Aklavik is looking forward to possible economic opportunities and tourism once the bridge and road is completed to Willow River. Mr. Speaker, at Willow River, we also have in my riding probably the best quality of material that is next to pretty much the same as Frog Creek. Mr. Speaker, the community is looking forward to completing this project, and as I mentioned, we need the remaining funds. I would like to ask the Minister, will the Minister ensure that the community of Aklavik receives adequate funds to complete the last stage to install the bridge at Willow River? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Transportation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Transportation is reviewing the recent proposal from the hamlet of Aklavik, which was done up by some consultants for them, to finish up the bridge span on Willow River to access the granular the Member is talking about. The department is anticipating a large number of applicants for this small amount of money that we have. We anticipate it exceeding by $500,000 again probably this year. We are reviewing the community of Aklavik’s proposal, and we will be getting back to the Member as soon as we can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I realize the Minister is anticipating a large volume of applications. I was told last week we were first in line, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister: when does the Minister expect our proposal for Willow River to be approved? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Laughter
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have said to the Member and to the House, we will be reviewing it and getting back to the Member shortly. The scope of this project, though, is well beyond the capacity of the CAP program. This $1-million funding that we have for all the communities in the Northwest Territories is a limited pot of money where a number of communities access for seasonal employment and opportunities for their communities. The Hamlet of Aklavik has asked a significant ask on this program. We will review it and get back to him as soon as we can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as the Minister is well aware, this pot of funding, the Community Access Program, is underfunded. Mr. Speaker, we need to increase this as many of the smaller communities depend on this funding to create employment in our small communities, which have less than 35 per cent employment rate. Mr. Speaker, maybe the Minister could work with the Minister of Finance, Aklavik is the Minister’s home community, to find extra funding for Aklavik. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Laughter
I want to thank the Member for that because this is one of the reasons that this Assembly has gone into what we have done to see what we do with our budgets to increase funding for this type of stuff for small communities and create employment for the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, we are so close to completing this project. With a little extra help from the ministry, I could see us completing this project this winter. Will the Minister ensure that the community is approved before the winter months come up because, as I mentioned, we have a lot of preparation to prepare for our January to April? That is the small timeframe we have to complete this work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Like I said, we will review it and get back to the Member as quickly as we can. The other thing is the Member has already invited me to tour his region. I look forward to going out to site and having a look at this road and Willow River and everything else this entails.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
