Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure regarding the condition this year, as I mentioned in my statement, of the Dempster Highway and the Inuvik-Tuk Highway. Can the Minister provide some context on why this year there were delays and what had happened to cause the conditions on the highway this year? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there were some delays and some particular challenges this year owing to the nature of the spring melt and just an unusual amount of snow that came in last year resulting in an unusual spring as that was melting. So that certainly posed challenges to the department and to our contractors. We also had two different contracts up in that region that were both out for renewal this year, and so that had to go through the usual public procurement processes. There was some delays therein. Every time, though, Mr. Speaker, we were reaching out to existing contractors who were continuing to work, the contracts were getting extended and, really, a big shout-out goes out to them for always working through those projects and those needs. And I appreciate I have heard a lot from the region and every time I would, would go back and was always quickly able to be assured that work was happening and was able to be assured when it was going to happen. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you Minister Wawzonek. And, yes, we did have a huge amount of snow this year in our region. So can the Minister kind of provide an update on the current status of those contracts now that were, as she had mentioned, had expired and where they're sitting today? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm very happy to say that all of our O and M contracts for the region are -- for the Dempster region are now in place, they're being operationalized. The ITH O and M contract is still being finalized. We spent a lot of effort on this one this summer and have certainly been approaching it, I think, from a view of some relationship building with contractors in the region. I do expect to have an update on that this week, and I'm looking forward to it being in place before the freeze up. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks again, that is good to hear that the contracts will be let. So I guess, finally, Mr. Speaker, going forward, has the Minister tasked the department with coming up with kind of a long-term plan to ensure that years like this year is not something that we'd expect going forward next year and in future years, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is regular reviews and regular eyes on both highways throughout the entire year. What I've asked for though, and very happy to commit to the Member that this information will flow to the Members from the region as well, is that we have outlined in advance what the regular maintenance process is, what are the regular times when there's someone that does go out and inspect, and what is the regular maintenance that's going to happen. So MLAs and Members and regional residents know themselves in advance what they can expect. Obviously, when there's extreme weather events, which there seem to be regularly, we will then also have to go out and do more. But at least folks will know in advance exactly what to expect, what's happening, and then there's hopefully less surprises and more eyes on the ground, frankly, to monitor and see how our efforts are going. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from YK Centre.
