Agreed.

---Agreed

Total buildings and wharves $125,000. Agreed?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Total activity is $125,000. Agreed?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Page 09-20. Transportation and planning. Buildings and wharves, headquarters, total region $2.120 million. Agreed?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Thank you. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Mr. Chairman, this is prior to agreeing to total region $2.120 million, particularly in regard to Highway No. 3, Yellowknife access road reconstruction and paving. The one page project substantiation sheet for Highway No. 3, Yellowknife access road reconstruction and paving investment of $3. million, is just plain flimsy.

It indicates reconstruction is required to address safety problems. No where is there any indication of past accidents, statistics, or any other indication that there is a safety problem or, indeed, whether this investment will make any difference whatsoever. If we are not expecting to get some worthwhile economic or social benefit proportional to the cost, why are we spending $3 million?

Evidence indicates this department does not know. It does not develop plans and strategies to achieve its capital program objectives in the most cost beneficial manner. It does not consider which projects will yield the highest level of social and economic benefits or it would have told us. According to the project substantiation, this project was not even considered a priority by the city of Yellowknife. The committee wondered if Cabinet read this.

Mr. Chairman, again, we regret that the government must think this committee can be fooled. Our intelligence indicates that there is a higher payback with improvements to the highly travelled highway between Rae-Edzo and Yellowknife. We have found other examples of questionable transportation projects. It is the Cabinet's job to catch these items before they get to the Assembly.

Thank you. The motion has been circulated and translated. The motion is in order. To the motion. To the motion, please. Mr. Lewis.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am not a Member of the Standing Committee on Finance, although I did serve on it and enjoyed it very much. This particular project is in my constituency. It is in Yellowknife Centre and the only discussion I have had with anybody on this issue is, where should paving take place? I said that it should begin right here to Rae. The road from Yellowknife to Rae is the most highly travelled road in the Northwest Territories. It should be a priority. The road from 49 street beginning at what I call "Wong Way" where Newton has his store is the most travelled part of that road which takes you to Rae. Not only does it take people to Rae-Edzo and south through to Edmonton, it takes many

people from Yellowknife who live downtown, to the airport. It has a variety of vehicles that travel from Yellowknife to Giant Mine, all categories of vehicles. It also has all kinds of boats that go along it, trailers and recreation vehicles that go the Ingraham Trail.

I personally use the road a lot, because those people who know me will know that for many years I have made frequent visits to the dump and I can tell you from experiencing that, that piece of road is the shortest bit of road that you can imagine for several reasons. To begin with, many people like me to take stuff to the dump and because of the kind of road it is, if you were to keep your eyes open, you would see it jump all over the place because it is a windy road even though it is downtown. Stuff falls all over the place. I guess it should be strapped on, but because of the nature of the road you will find that there is junk that falls off every vehicle that travels on it. It is also a road which has a very high grade that you could fall off either edge of it. There have been several accidents along it similar to those which used to exist on the old "suicide corner" up near where the Woolco buildings and several other developments have been built in Frame Lake South. So this road is of a similar category, a winding road that has witnessed several serious accidents in the past. I think the department has not done its job if it has not recorded all those accidents that have taken place. I have lived here quite some time now and I could attest that many of them have taken place, but I have not kept statistics. Also, Mr. Chairman, this Assembly approved just a short while ago the building of an Assembly building on the side which will need to have a better access road to it than we have right now.

On the other side of that site there is a planned development at McNiven Lake, which will eventually see a sub-division. I would hope that will also be taken into consideration when some kind of debate will take place as to how we will proceed with this last chunk of road downtown, which obviously needs to be fixed. The ski hill also apparently will be affected to some degree because the current lodge is going to be moved up opposite the old dump on the old Arctic Winter Games site where they held the biathlon. There are several things that are going on over the next while which make it seem to me very important that we not simply toss this out because of a lack of statistics, although I do agree if you are going to try to get $1.5 million, you had better build your case in a very strong and reasonable fashion. I made it very clear, and this is the only conversation that I have had on this item, Mr. Chairman, that I am in favour of working on the road to Rae-Edzo and I would include this particular stretch of road as being, by definition, part of the road that takes you to Rae-Edzo. I understood that it would not be touched and because it is in my constituency, Mr. Chairman, I am a little bit disappointed that suddenly it appears here as an item that people want to kick out, although I was not given the chance to defend it other than the opportunity I am getting now. I could go on in great length on this particular item. I think as an ordinary Member, who is not on the Finance Committee, and since this is my constituency, I should have had an opportunity to discuss it with the committee.

Thank you, Mr. Lewis. To the motion, the motion is on project Highway No. 3 Yellowknife access, the construction and paving of Yellowknife, to delay it in the amount of $1.5 million, to the motion. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

No, Mr. Chairman. I was just going to remind the Minister that he should be defending his budget, as a Minister, and not as an M.L.A. for Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further comments on committee motion 16? Mr. Gargan.

Just one question, Mr. Chairman, to the Minister and that is, from the junction to the airport, last year there was a lot of work done there and there was also a lot of blasting to widen that section and even the relocation of the Power Corporation access road was done. Who did that? Was that a cost-sharing project or was that done by the City of Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, we are discussing the motion at this time. To the motion, please. Mr. Todd.

Yes, could I suggest that we take a five minute break now, Mr. Chairman, please?

Does the committee agree that we take five? Thank you.

---SHORT BREAK

Prior to our short break, committee motion 17 was in process. I will read the motion one more time. I move, that in 1993-94 Capital Estimates for the Department of Transportation, under the activity transportation planning, for the project Highway No. 3 Yellowknife access reconstruction and paving, Yellowknife in the amount of $1.5 million be deleted. To the motion. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I have decided to withdraw this motion seeing that it has caused some grave concerns for the Yellowknife M.L.A.s. However, I did want to put forth a new motion that has been in our committee report, which was tabled in the House on November 20, 1992.

Please proceed with the new motion.