Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Premier confirm when the business plan for the Hay River Harbour remediation went into the federal government? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. An application was submitted under the Oceans Protection Plan for the Hay River Harbour restoration on February 17th, 2023, and the Minister of Infrastructure is seeking $35 million over four years under this program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Premier confirm if it was just the one department, or did it go to any other departments in the federal government? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This was submitted to Transport Canada. Discussions have also been ongoing with CIRNAC regarding this project. Infrastructure continues to lobby the federal government and to stress the importance of this marine hub, including the action needed to reduce risk to equipment and the environment, avoid the interruption of the essential resupply activities, and maintain safe and secure commercial marine shipping operations in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just got to run over and his questions.
Mr. Speaker, can the Premier confirm if any support for the application is requested from communities, Indigenous governments, businesses, or industry who rely on the services of MTS? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd be okay if he ran over and got the questions because I got the answers from the Minister of Infrastructure, so. Yes, we have requested letters of support from several groups to attach to the application. We're still able to accept any letters of support, if any other groups want to extend their support for our funding application. This pertains it impacts a lot of people, and so the more letters of support we have the more likely that we'll be successful in our lobbying. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was hoping that when I saw Mr. McLeod up in the audience there that he actually had a cheque for this project. But I see he's ran away.
Mr. Speaker, has application for permits required to remove silt from the channel in the harbour been submitted for approval, and if so, when can we expect to hear a response or approval for that? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Infrastructure is in the engagement process right now and expected to submit the applications at the end of March. They're also in the process of engaging the federal government for funding support while the work proceeds on the regulation and permitting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
