Thank you. Mr. Chairman, there are a couple of small concerns that I want to raise in this particular area, it happens to be with regard to the matter of the Dempster highway. I wanted to indicate to the Minister, and through him to the staff, that I do have a concern about the actual quality of the road, and also the quality of the gravel material that we are using on that highway.
Another point that I wanted to raise, is that I did write to the former Minister about the use of equipment on the highway. That was particularly, how we were using equipment, like packers and I was told, Mr. Chairman, that we do not use packers because of the type of material we place on the highways. I noted with interest, in my own driving experiences in the southern parts of the Northwest Territories, that we do use packers. I was kind of curious why we are not, in fact, using packers when we are reconstructing the highway, and also in terms of the maintenance of those highways. The comparison that I asked about was the Yukon, and the suggestion was that there was a different type of material that was being used.
It is interesting to note that I had discussions with a lot of the contractors, who have been working on the highway, and they indicate that there is no reason why we should not be using packers at all to, in fact, pack down the road hard, so that the granular material that we are using does not end up on the side of the road, rather than staying on top of the road. I just wanted to raise that particular concern.
I do not necessarily think you can answer or deal with the issues at this particular time, but I do want the department, over the next few months, to address how we might be able to improve the quality of that highway. Particularly, since this year was, I believe, one we had a great deal of tourists travelling on the highway. In fact, we had more on the highway in the Mackenzie Delta area, than we actually had coming to Yellowknife. I would ask you to review that situation, and maybe develop a plan, or response, as to how we might improve that particular highway.