Debates of November 29, 2007 (day 5)

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker…(English not provided)

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I will be speaking about the deplorable condition of Highway No. 6 and the serious safety issues affecting the residents of Fort Resolution.

Mr. Speaker, the road is very soft in some spots and which, as you know, may cause rollovers. The roadbed is below grade in many sections, which means the road does not drain freely and gets very slippery with a little bit of rain and a little bit of snow.

I want to make it clear that I know the highway workers do their best to keep the road in a passable state, but, in this day and age, just keeping the road passable is not acceptable. It is called Highway No. 6. That means it should be a highway, not a trail.

Mr. Speaker, the other area of concern to me is that if the Tamerlane project goes forward and the people and business that are employed at the mine site will be using the highway to a greater extent from Fort Resolution to the mine site, this makes it even more imperative that safety issues with Highway No. 6 be addressed as soon as possible.

We need to do more than band-aid fixes to just keep Highway No. 6 open. It is time to spend some serious money on the reconstruction. Perhaps now that the mine may be opening, the government may take a closer look at spending money as they did on Highway No. 4 when the diamond industry opened.

I will have questions for the Minister of Transportation at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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