Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And these questions will be for the Minister of Infrastructure. And they're fairly easy questions so she'll be able to answer them off the cuff. I can see here getting ready. I'd just like to get an update on the status of dredging in Hay River since we did have, you know, approximately three weeks where people were away from the community. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker and the Member is correct. I mean, we've been going back and forth since the beginning, perhaps this Assembly, where the Member's been wanting to do dredging in the community. I went and met with the community members with both the MLAs, had good feedback. It was a room full of people with, you know, really strong interests in dredging. So as a result of that, we put some proposal together. We met with the federal Ministers, and you know, really stressed how important this project is. So the Member's asking where we are with this. We have permits in place. We can dredge until October 7th. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'd thank the Minister for that response. And I guess since we lost three or four weeks here, will we be able to accomplish the scope of work that was set out in the RFP, or are we going to have to come back to this next season? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so far we're doing good. We're on track. Yes, we did have some delays at the beginning during the fire season. So, you know, I we have until October 7th. The contractor's on you know, on site. So I am hoping that we can be able to get most of the work done this year. You know, I did apply for a fiveyear proposal for this work. So hopefully, you know, we're able to continue year after year for the next five years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd ask the Minister, considering that we've had much lower water levels in the Hay River I guess and in the lake as well to the point that where we had people actually, you know, from the K'atlodeeche, ride bicycles across. That's how bad it was. So with these lower water levels, are we going to be looking at an extended area that's going to be requiring dredging beyond what we're doing? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we will return next season to be able to accomplish some of the work. We have kind of a mapped out of the river. So we are looking into it, and just to be able to assess what we've done now, where our next steps are. And I'd be happy to share an update with the Member in terms of what our plans are because we do have plans in place, I just don't have it right in front of me right now, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, I just wanted to do these off the cuff here to make sure that I was satisfied that the Minister was up to speed on this file, and she seems to be. So I guess I would and a good thing is that I hear that we are looking at looking for funding or support from the federal government, I think, for ongoing harbour maintenance, and I just want to make sure that, you know, that we don't let off on that and that the Minister keeps after the feds for that because we've got we've got a fairly big harbour there, and there's a lot more work to do. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, of course. I mean, you know, we look continuously look at the feds help. I mean, really, we ask for their participation and, you know, some of the work that's done, and I think we will continue we will continue. I don't think about it. We're going to continue to look for federal funding for harbour restoration. I take the dredging work back, it's harbour restoration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
