Thank you, Mr. Chairman. By way of comments on the review of the Transportation budget, there were a couple of concerns directed to the Minister. In this forum, rather than another one Mr. Gargan did touch on, is the restriction on wide vehicles on the majority of the roads in the Northwest Territories. I realize the department is making great strides in bringing them up to standard of the provinces, but they are narrower and we have less blacktop than we would like to see. When it comes to wide loads, there are two things that stand out. The fact is, the vehicles are travelling at a fairly good rate of speed. Although they have pilot cars, it has been my experience in the past to see these pilot cars quite far ahead, and perhaps not as close to the vehicle as they should be. Although there is a set distance, that is not being strictly complied with. There is a distance that is set by regulation to alert the public that there is a wide load coming, but you have no idea, simply by seeing a flashing light and a little truck ahead that says "wide load," of what is coming along behind. In some cases, it is a half of a kilometre. At other times, I have seen up to three or four kilometres. You could not see the pilot car. Getting to the size of the load, they travel at a posted rate of speed but, as Mr. Gargan pointed out, sometimes it does not give the general public a very comfortable feeling seeing a very wide piece of equipment coming down the road at posted speed. Perhaps, these wider loads could be restricted to slow down a bit and give the travelling public a bit of confidence and security.
The other comment that I was making, and I did ask the question earlier on, is that Alberta has taken the initiative in the last while, through a change in Ministers, to reduce the amount of vehicle inspections, either as a cost-saving measure or due to pressure from the industry. Although, from what I can gather from looking at this issue, it appears that it is more of a cost-saving measure than anything else. I think I asked the question earlier on about whether this territorial government was contemplating a reduction in the heavy vehicle inspections, recognizing the fact that it has only been in the last few years that the service has developed to what it is today. We know that transportation is an important part of the industry in the territories. Every time you stop a vehicle, it is time off the road, but it is money well spent because you have an industry that is safe, not only for the industry itself, but also for the travelling public on the highway. I would like to encourage the government, if they are considering a reduction in service, not to contemplate that, because if you check with the industry you will find the majority of trucking companies that are based in the territories endorse the efforts that are being put into vehicle inspections to ensure that, not only themselves, but the travelling public is protected. There have been instances where the industry received some bad press because of equipment that was on the highway that should not have been there. In the last few years, the government has turned that around.
I realize I am not giving the Minister a chance to answer these issues, but these are merely comments which can be noted and, if there is a comment, I would appreciate it. The summer time is coming along. There will be much construction taking place on the highway, hopefully. One of the things that the travelling public is increasingly aware of, certainly between Yellowknife and Fort Providence, is the amount of water that is being put on the road. You drive by any day during the week, rain or shine, and it is almost as if it rained. In cases, I have seen trucks watering the road when they really should not, in my opinion. I recognize the fact that they do contract out to put on so many miles or gallons, but if you look when you drive down that highway, you will see where the water trucks have been passing by and the water has run off into the ditch almost as fast as it could go on the road. In my opinion, and many of the travelling public's opinion, too much water is being put on the road. It could, in some cases, become a hazard, not only visibility wise where you get your window full of mud, but the road becomes slippery. It does not seem to be of any value, water running off into the ditch. I think that is something that should be looked at and a certain amount of common sense should be applied by the contractor who is doing it. Perhaps the contracts are too specific, that they have to put on so many miles, gallons or time. It is just an order to fill that quota. They just drive regardless of whether or not it is raining.
I recognize that this is the O and M budget and does not deal with the capital, but when a plan is made to build a road, sometimes I wonder if these things are done in isolation, rather than in coordination with other activities such as tourism. Heavens knows that a straight road will get you there as fast as possible, but sometimes a winding road is a road which is much more attractive. What I am leading up to is between here and both the British Columbia and Alberta borders we have many lakes, rivers and falls, et cetera, and sometimes it appears that the road is far too far away from a lake. I think if you go between here and Providence you are going to be lucky to see the lake once as you approach the north arm. Yet, when you look from the air when you fly to Providence, it is not that far from the highway to the shore of the lake where you can see one of the largest freshwater lakes in North America, with thousands of islands and what the tourists and travelling public like to see from time to time. There are places to make a bend in the road or cut out some trees along the road, something similar to what was done between Providence and Kakisa. There are a couple of places there where there is a bit of a detour and some of the trees have been cleared. You can then see the lake and the many islands. Something like that should be done in consultation with tourism to make sure we get some benefit from the natural beauty which we have.
At the present time, those were some of the things which I wanted to suggest to the department while we had them here. I realize it only deals with the one aspect of the department's mandate, and that is highways. There are other areas, but I will see what else is to be said, Mr. Chairman, for the time being.