Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Members of the Legislative Assembly, I am pleased to present you today with the Department of Transportation's operations and maintenance budget for the 1994-95 fiscal year. The proposed 1994-95 O and M budget for the department is $47.6 million. This represents an increase of $1.9 million over the department's 1993-94 budget of $45.7 million.
Most of the budget increase, $1.2 million, is a result of the 1994 opening of the Mackenzie Highway extension from Fort Simpson to Wrigley. The extension adds 220 kilometres of all-weather highway to the territorial highway system, as well as a new ferry crossing at Ndulee. The budget provides $850,000 for the increase highway maintenance requirements and $400,000 for the operation of the Ndulee ferry.
The 1994-95 budget begins to show some of the tangible benefits in highway maintenance savings, resulting from the Department of Transportation's highway reconstruction and paving program. Funds the department has spent annually for dust control on highways No. 1 and No. 3 are now available for dust control on other sections of the highway system. In 1994, the department plans to make highway No. 8 between Fort McPherson and Arctic Red River entirely dust free. This will make the Dempster Highway a safer and more comfortable drive for motorists.
Through internal reorganization of the Department of Transportation, we have established regional offices in the Baffin, Keewatin and Kitikmeot regions. The new regional presence of the department will bring its operations closer to the communities and the people where it delivers its programs and services. I should point out to Members that the new regional offices do not involve the appropriation of new money for the department. The $544,000 in salaries and wages and 4.5 person years have been identified through the internal reorganization of the department and the reallocation of its budgets.
The 1994-95 budget year will mark the opening of the Baker Lake training centre. I believe this centre will provide long-term benefits for air services in the Northwest Territories. The centre will train northerners in the specialized techniques and procedures necessary for the safe and efficient maintenance of our Arctic airports, including maintenance of runway surfaces, navigational aids, lighting systems and the air terminal buildings. The centre will also offer a separate program on airport management and administration for municipal officials and staff who manage our airport operations.
The Baker Lake training centre should produce immediate benefits in improved community airport services. In the longer term, by graduating personnel who are skilled and knowledgeable in airport operations, the training centre should facilitate the transfer of our territorial airports to community ownership and control. I think there is little doubt that the $250,000 in this budget for the Baker Lake training centre will be money well spent.
As the Members know, the Department of Transportation is involved in negotiations with Transport Canada for the transfer of the nine remaining federally-owned airports in the Northwest Territories. To make sure that a successful transfer will result in positive benefits for the Northwest Territories, the 1994-95 budget dedicates $110,000 specifically to the transfer negotiations. The target date for completion of the Arctic "A" airports transfer is April 1, 1995.
In the Assembly on December 13, 1993, I tabled the Northwest Territories' transportation agenda. I hope that Members of the Assembly will see in this budget real progress towards achieving several of the objectives put forward in the transportation agenda. The Mackenzie Highway extension, the Dempster Highway dust control, the department's new regional organization and the Baker Lake training centre are all elements contained in our transportation agenda.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I believe it is essential, particularly in these times of fiscal constraint, that the department has a well formulated set of goals and objectives to give it clear direction and to guide the allocation of its limited resources. In this regard, I hope Members find that the Department of Transportation's budget for 1994-95 is on course to accomplish the goals set out in the transportation agenda. Thank you.