Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Transportation. Mr. Speaker, earlier I had talked about the completion of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway, and my first question to the Minister is: what work remains to be done on the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway before it is considered complete? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Transportation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The contractors are working out there right now. They have 3.5 kilometres of embankment that they had to finish in the centre section of the highway. With that work, there are roughly 147,000 cubic metres of material that will be put in place to finish up those 3.5 kilometres. They had eight culverts to finish up, and two bridges, and all that work is nearing completion this winter. Moving on into the summer, operations have surfacing gravel, which will include crushing, stockpiling, and laying out the gravel, then finishing up the guard rails, signage, and such for the final touches. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the response and the update. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister highlight the events that are being planned to celebrate the opening of the highway?
As I have mentioned before in the House in one of my Minister’s statements, there are three different celebrations going forward this year. The first one will be highlighting the completion of the Tuktoyaktuk ice road, which will be held on April 21st, and then there will be the grand opening of the highway on November 15th, the official opening of the highway, and then the final event would be in the summer of July 2018, which will be another opening, focusing on marketing travellers of the region on the highway.
I appreciate the response. The Minister mentioned celebrations on April 21st and also the grand opening November 15th and the opening in July 2018. Mr. Speaker, I'm curious to know: how much will the territorial and federal governments contribute to opening ceremonies for the highway?
The Department of Transportation has a budget for the grand opening in November, and the other two are going to be through sources funded through other allocations and different departments, including, probably, the federal government.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the direction. Mr. Speaker, my final question for the Minister is: what is the government doing to commemorate the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk winter road and the people with expertise that went into this annual construction and maintenance? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the department is going to be participating in that celebration, closing the final ice road. We will be doing a screening on a documentary called "The End of an Ice Age," which will be depicting the history of the ice road and its transition to an all-season road.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
