Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Dempster Highway is relatively maintained on a regular basis when the highway's open and the season is busy. But there are times when the ice crossings are closed and the road seems to be neglected. Can the Minister tell me how they receive updates and inspection reports on the highway at any given time? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's a regional office in every different region across the Northwest Territories, and each regional office is responsible for doing that type of maintenance when there are issues. There are a variety of different channels through each post. The deputy minister, the assistant deputy minister who is responsible for regions, and myself as well, are all notified. So when there's for instance, when there was the earlier this year and the ice roads were melting, we were all involved on various chats and emails and text groups and phone calls to notify when there was potential closures of the highways, for instance when there was an ice hole that developed. So there's all those different pathways that erupt, and I certainly make the effort to update MLAs when I have that information. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is important that the highway be inspected and reports go to the appropriate regional departments. Can the Minister identify if you have inspectors on all sections of the road during closure of the ice bridges? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are inspections and inspectors and roads staff that do go out and inspect all the different roadways. If there's a particular stretch of road that the Member's concerned about or a particular event in specific, I'd be more than happy to look into it. If there was a time when there was a concern that there wasn't enough inspections happening, I know there you know, again, so I'd be happy to speak to that specifics. I can say that there's staff in all the regions that do exactly this work, and they report up through the department. Again, I do often receive reports when there's challenges. So, again, if that system has at some time broken down, I'd like to hear about it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My next question is referring to a section of the road. There's a section of the road on the Wrangling River portion, and it's very dangerous to motorists. Has the Minister been updated by the regional office on the severity of this portion of the highway? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say with respect to the Dempster, in general, that what we are doing right now is looking forward to working with the Yukon and bringing both sides together towards jointly bringing our efforts to find a way to update and to improve the Dempster Highway. So we have road crews going out in this summer season and next summer season to do some initial scoping work and some geotechnical type studies and other studies so that they could be prepared to understand what kind of planning is required to ensure that that entire stretch is looked at. And so that includes the entire portion of the Dempster that's on our side of the border. And I will certainly perhaps ensure that we doubledown and speak with the MLA in the regions, which I expect that they would do, to make sure that we're looking at all of these sections. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Final supplementary. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just for a little clarification, the spot I was referring is in between Inuvik and Tsiigehtchic.
Can the Minister look at maintaining the highways during closure of the ice crossings for when the ferries are out are shut down for the day for rough sections and dust control to avoid traffic? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that's a specific question I'd like to have conversation with the Member and, if necessary, can report back to the House just in terms of what kinds of exactly supports on what roads and what sections the Member is talking about. I mean, I know we do we certainly do send out trucks, depending on the type of year what time of year, excuse me, depending on what services may be available. So, again, I know the region would like to make themselves available and would like to ensure that we maintain passable roadways. And so, again, I'd like to follow up with the Member directly and make sure that we're doing our best. If there's a section of this area that is not getting the attention that it needs and could have, then we would like to look to fixing that. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from Tu NedheWiilideh.
