Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Return to an oral question asked by Mr. Arvaluk on December 8 with respect to stockpiles transferred for roads in Chesterfield Inlet.
In response to the question raised by the Member for Aivilik on December 3, I wish to advise that there are two gravel stockpiles in Chesterfield Inlet. The one at the airport is no longer a federal stockpile, as it was part of the B and C airports transfer. The other in the community was produced by Public Works and Services for community purposes.
On analysis, the Department of Transportation found that the airport stockpile had a low fine content, which made it unsuitable for direct application to the runway surface. As a result, material was purchased this past summer from the community stockpile for the runway resurfacing.
At the present time, each of these two stockpiles contain approximately 8000 cubic metres of gravel. It has been determined that mixing gravel from both piles will produce a gravel that is suitable for the runway's resurfacing.
Therefore, with respect to the Member's question, the airport stockpile is not surplus to the Department of Transportation's need. It appears there is sufficient material in the two stockpiles to adequately meet all the community needs for some time, including both the road repair and runway resurfacing programs. And, in fact, cooperation and coordination of the granular material programs between the various departments is already occurring to provide the least cost solution to meet the community needs.