Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just some comments about marine services. I know that in this department "marine" primarily means ferries, ferry crossings and the like, but I also know the Minister is keenly aware of the ocean being a lifeline in the Nunavut communities.
I would like to make two points: number one, I have, for years, believed that we should be able to achieve greater economies of scale working cooperatively with Greenland on resupply in the eastern Arctic. I want to publicly commend the Minister and his department for not only seeing that but for taking the initiative to visit Greenland and initiate high-level discussions with our neighbours about how cooperation might be mutually beneficial. I think there has been far too little cooperation between our government and the neighbouring circumpolar jurisdiction in recent years, and I'm delighted the Minister has taken this on. Anyone who thinks that it's extravagant or being done for anything but the best fiscal interests of the Government of the Northwest Territories is dead wrong.
Secondly, Mr. Chairman, the Minister, I believe, knows of my concerns about the apparent erosion of operation sealift, at least in my constituency. I don't really know if it's happening elsewhere. Mr. Chairman, for years our government has, I believe, supported one sealift, in cooperation with the Government of Canada and the Coast Guard, which is designed to put all our business into one contract so the best prices can be made available, not just to the government but to private people including the little people who order their supplies and perhaps their vehicles or a boat on the sealift. Over the years, Mr. Chairman, operation sealift has been eroded. There was a vessel called the Hancock Trader operated some years ago now by an enterprising individual who successfully stole quite a little bit of business away from the sealift operation. But the situation has gotten even more serious in recent years. There have been operators -- I call them "pirate operators" -- who have actively undermined operation sealift. I guess what alarms me, Mr. Chairman, is that it has come to my attention that agencies of our government have been using these unauthorized operators. For example, I will cite the Iqaluit Housing Authority which brought its materials and goods up to Iqaluit last year on a vessel other than the operation sealift contracted vessel.
There is another reason for concern about this, Mr. Chairman, and that is public safety and marine safety. I can do no more than cite the story of the barge that was, I believe, improperly secured and loaded by a company called Rock Lessard which was bringing its waste and scrap metal for the FOL contract south. This barge capsized en route to the south. I understand the accident was not reported as is required, even though the tons of scrap metal would probably constitute a marine hazard.
So, Mr. Chairman, I want to note my concern about these developments and urge the Minister and his officials to explore with the federal government -- I understand in their objectives they are looking at the devolution of certain federal marine programs -- in a cooperative manner how we might achieve the best economies of scale, both for the operation sealift and also for resupply in the eastern Arctic through Greenland.
If the Minister has a response I would be happy to hear it, Mr. Chairman, but I am mainly interested in making these comments on the record today. Thank you very much.