And access roads.

(Microphone turned off)

---Laughter

I would like to ask the Minister what his department is doing to look at continuing the road north along the Mackenzie River past Wrigley. Since we built the road up to Wrigley now and last summer, during its official opening, statements were made that we shouldn't see that as the end of the highway but, rather, as a continuation of the highway north. I would like to ask the Minister what his department is doing with regard to looking at the possibility of continuing the road north along the Mackenzie River? Mahsi.

Thank you. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Discussions have been under way for some time now with a number of people in the area close to Mr. Antoine's constituency and the Sahtu with respect to the possibility of developing a hire north kind of approach to expanding this highway, similar to what was done in the early 1980s. Frank Pope, who lives in that area, has been instrumental in trying to bring people together in an effort to put forth some sort of proposal where we, along with the federal government, could look at expanding that highway. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The department is working with the people in these communities to develop some sort of a proposal. I would like to ask the Minister, is his department funding a committee to develop this proposal? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Todd.

Actually, the strong political proponent of this idea of expanding the highway has been the Hon. Ethel Blondin-Andrew. She has been very active at the federal level in that particular area. We've given some technical and moral support to the group. The honourable Member knows the limitations we have right now. We have already cut our budget by $1 million because of restraint and it will require a collective approach between the federal and territorial governments.

The discussions that are under way are not being financed by anybody. They are just being done on a voluntary basis at this time, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you. Is the Minister aware if his department is working along with the political group to develop this proposal? How is his government working with the group? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Well, if I can just step back a little bit, some time ago Mr. Pope came to me and asked if we would consider looking at a creative way to extend this highway. I said to him at the time that there was a limitation of dollars.

We have no new dollars, let's make that clear, no new dollars. Half of our budget is already spent on highways, $20 million, which I said yesterday. But, I said I was prepared to provide him with any support he required, technical support of the people from our office, and whatever political support he required to try to convince the federal government that continuing this highway is important. That's what we are doing right now. We are providing support to him, on a technical basis, when it's requested. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife North, Mr. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. It has to do with an outstanding $4 million tax bill owed to the city of Yellowknife by delinquent ratepayers. My understanding is that there was a mechanism up to four years ago where the city could seize the property of delinquent ratepayers, but the court struck that down and now there is a loophole. So, my question to the Minister of MACA is, what is she going to do to close this loophole so that the taxpayers of Yellowknife can receive some relief?

Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms. Mike.

I'll take his question as notice and get back to him as soon as I can.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Lewis.

Minister of Transportation, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I was a white-knuckled flyer and I concur with the honourable Member that we need to improve our global transportation systems. We've had extensive discussions with the Ministry of Transport to try to get the GPS into effect in our airports. We are currently looking at the possibility of some pilot projects in the Arctic. We are aggressively pursuing an extension of this whole program. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

I raised this with Mr. Todd a year ago. I would like to ask the Minister, has the industry, many airlines for example, had any contact with him about such a development in our northern airline industry?

Minister of Transportation, Mr. Todd.