Mr. Speaker, since becoming the Minister of Transportation, Members of the House have made it very clear to me that there is a large desire for local transportation facilities in the communities. These include wharves, breakwaters and landings for small boats and access roads or trails to local attractions. These facilities are needed to support resource harvesting, recreation, tourism and cultural pursuits.
It has also become clear to me that the needs are not being adequately met. In part, this shortfall can be addressed by speaking more on these programs, and I intend to do so. However, this is not the only answer.
In many cases, communities know what is needed and are quite capable of building it themselves. Often, they are prepared to make a substantial contribution to the work and are asking only for some assistance to pay wages or purchase materials or fuel.
I believe we should support this kind of community initiative and commitment. By doing so, we can respond to community priorities and increase the local control and stake in the projects. We can also stretch our limited dollars a little further.
Mr. Speaker, I am, therefore, pleased to announced that Cabinet has approved a contributions policy for community transportation infrastructure. This policy will increase our flexibility in making contributions to communities who wish to undertake improvements to local access roads and small craft facilities.
Communities will be encouraged to develop proposals outlining the work to be done, including the costs and schedule, the contribution requested and the anticipated benefits. I should caution that this policy is aimed at smaller local projects and our total funding is not unlimited. However, we will make every effort to respond positively to sound proposals.
Department of Transportation staff will also be available to assist in developing proposals and provide expertise where required. We will also continue, where appropriate, with more traditional implementation methods for community marine and access road projects.
This policy will therefore not exclude those communities who do not have the means to initiate such proposals. Nor will it exclude larger or more complex projects which do require more thorough planning, engineering or environmental assessments.
Mr. Speaker, I would be pleased to make details of this new policy available to interested Members and community councils. I hope my colleagues will agree that this policy is a positive step forward towards community control in satisfying local needs and aspirations. Thank you.