Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, the Minister previously mentioned that new, lighter equipment was on its way to the communities to support accelerated ice road construction. Can the Minister provide a status update, including where the equipment is going? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to get the details on where all the equipment is, I believe it is a new purchase, some of this stuff, and to which communities it will be allocated. I will get that to the Member.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister also previously stated that the number of propane trucks travelling the region had declined since 2013. Can the Minister provide some more detail on those numbers, including their source?
I will get the department to pull that information together and supply it to the Member.
It would be nice to have some answers here, but I will try again: how will the Department of Infrastructure monitor the impacts of its decision to end the shoulder season ferry services on the communities that have historically relied on those ferries?
I would not say it is historically. This has only been going on for a few years. We work very closely with all the energy companies and the food companies in the region to make sure the supplies are in in a timely manner and updating them on the closure coming this fall year on the ferry services, and we will continue to work closely with industry and the residents in the area on the ferry closure.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the closing of the ferry services during the winter was sort of to cut down on the budgeting here, and we are in the last two years of our mandate and our term. There is supposed to be a lot of spending going on, so will the Minister explain why he is still going ahead with his reduction plan?
If I remember correctly, this was passed in the House as part of our budget of last year. The Member is well aware that the winter ferry operations were put into place to help sustain the energy crisis that was possible with the Ikhil well. It's been proven now that this is not the case. Suppliers of energy, particularly propane, have been put into place to mitigate any possible shortage of this. We will continue on with what we promised to do in the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
