Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll be brief with my comments. They're going to probably be looked at as a pretty biased view and opinion. I was just going to say that overall the type of work that is being done by the staff of the Department of Transportation in all avenues of their work is certainly commendable. The ferry operation this past year, as far as I understand, has been remarkable. There haven't been any disruptions to speak of, and certainly the public in Yellowknife would have noticed.
We had a busy tourist season and of all of the comments that I've heard...I pay particular attention to the visitors coming over the highways because it has been a pet project of mine over the years. Having worked on it many, many years ago, it's nice to follow up on these things. That was one of the comments that was made; that the ferry operation, not only on the Mackenzie at Providence but also crossing the Liard, have had only good comments about them.
The road maintenance, initially, this fall was a bit of a problem, but as soon as it was pointed out what the travelling public were saying, it was rectified in very short order. I make a point of talking to We scan drivers because they use that road an awful lot and they say it was greatly improved, particularly during snowstorms and things that take the highway people out at odd hours. So, they are to be commended for the maintenance of the highway.
The other area that I wanted to touch on -- Mr. Patterson already made note of it and the Minister responded...I talked to the Minister about the transfer of Arctic A airports because Yellowknife is one of the major ones. The thing I would be cautioning the Minister and the department about is that it's good that we're taking it over. I think that's what a lot of the people want to see. But given the fiscal situation in Ottawa right now I'd be very cautious not to accept any less than the cost of operation. Costs are going to escalate as years go on, and if we're stuck with airports, in general, not just the Yellowknife airport, it's the user who is going to suffer in the end by paying more.
We're already being hit with taxes in transportation that are going to up travel $10 or $15 a trip. I'll just caution the Minister that people I've talked to, the business community here have said that we must not take it just because it's being offered to us, but make sure that we cut the best deal with them and I'm sure the Minister will.
There's also talk of privatizing the airport once the takeover has taken place. Certainly in Yellowknife I think there has been some overtures already made towards setting up an airport authority that would give control of the airport from the government to a non-profit group that would run the airport as part of our community; the details, of course, to be worked out. We're making steps in the right direction.
I know it doesn't come under the territorial government's total jurisdiction, but the shutting down or else modernizing and computerizing of the meteorological services are something that is of concern with the people in the aviation industry. There is already probably too much with the cutting down of Coast Guards and weather stations, et cetera, that that used to be maintained by people rather than machinery. It's of concern to the aviation industry that the mechanical devices can't quite detect local conditions as well as a set of eyes and people actually going out and looking and relaying that information to the incoming planes.
It's extremely important here in the territories, because of our distances between communities, and the dependency that we have on the aviation industry. I don't think there's anywhere that can appreciate airlines more than the Northwest Territories because of the large number of communities and the vast distances between them that are not connected by road or public water transportation. So air travel is very important to us, and every effort must be made to maintain safety in those areas.
I didn't get a copy of the Minister's opening remarks, but he did talk about some of the safety programs that are being undertaken by the department to ensure that the highways are kept safe. The seatbelt law to be enforced is certainly commendable because there have been many accidents where the lives of people who were wearing seatbelts were saved as a result of it. There have been a few accidents where people who were not wearing their seatbelts would have survived had they been wearing those belts. I think statistics show that it is worthwhile for a person to take the time to wear a seatbelt. I think we need to get the message across, not only slapping down hard on people by catching them but by an education program that will continue to make people aware of that responsibility is equally important to the program as is enforcement.
Certainly the impaired driving is one that needs to be beefed up a bit. There are people on the highways, and we all know it, who are drinking and travelling. You travel anywhere between here and the border and you're going to see beer bottles, tin cans and empty wine bottles, and I know that people don't stop and sit alongside the highway to drink those. They're being consumed in vehicles. I think it's an important part of highway safety that this continue to be done. I think that people know there are not only RCMP on the highway, but there is also the Department of Transportation's inspection vehicles and they're empowered to do all of the highway enforcement that RCMP are doing.
I'm not sure whether water safety comes under Transportation. That is an area that somebody has to take responsibility for; to inform people about safety in water. I know that we don't have as much enforcement there with the inspection for lifejackets and the enforcement of lifejackets in smaller boats. We end up every year losing one or two people who otherwise would have survived if they had their lifejackets on.
I may be off track a bit, Mr. Chairman, but transportation in the north includes that and I just thought I would just mention it.
With that, the department and the staff who provide safe highways, airports and ferry crossings are to be commended for a job well done. Thank you.