I'll try to explain it as best I can, Mr. Chairman, because I tried yesterday. There is $19.8 million allocated to highway operations, 42 per cent of the budget. In my endeavours to try to cut, I had to cut it on an equitable basis so I cut it accordingly. Of this $19.8 million, 61 per cent is allocated to highway maintenance. In Mr. Antoine's riding it represents 35 per cent of the highway length in terms of the total highway system, but carries only 10.7 per cent of the highway traffic. Those are the statistical figures.

This particular area accounted for 35 per cent of the expenditures on highway maintenance. With the proposed reductions, it would still account for over 30 per cent of the highway maintenance. I don't know whether that answers Mr. Antoine's question correctly, but that's the way I understand it and that's the way we endeavoured to look at the cuts. Thank you.

I would like to thank the Minister for that. He already said that yesterday and I understood him then and I've understood him again today.

My question is specifically what is going to happen to the highway. The level of maintenance that each highway system has today and with the cutbacks, what does it mean in terms of the level of maintenance in each highway system in my constituency? Are they going to cut back? What does it mean? I heard a term that the highway system between Simpson and Wrigley is going to become a caretaker status. What does that mean from the level it is today to the caretaker status? Does it drop a certain number of points in that scale they use to have a certain status to each highway? If that's the case, how many points would the status drop on the highway out of Fort Simpson towards Hay River, and also the one into the Fort Liard area? This is what I'm asking. I'm sure that the deputy minister should be able to know these types of technical things. I just want to know for clarification. Thank you.

Mr. Antoine is correct, I don't have that kind of technical expertise. I will ask my deputy minister to try to endeavour to explain what it means by reducing the category of maintenance and how that impacts and, at the end of the day, if that's not adequate then we can provide him with a full explanation after I've discussed it with the engineering division, if that's okay with you, Mr. Chairman.

The basic maintenance standards we have for highways are based on maintenance categories ranging from category one through five on what we call caretaker. Those six levels of maintenance are usually prescribed to a large extent by the volume of traffic. The maintenance manual is about two inches thick. It would describe such things as how often the gravel surface is bladed, how much snow would be allowed to accumulate before it's ploughed, and a whole series of maintenance standards which will depend on the category of the highway. As I said, the higher the volume of traffic and to some extent the more difficult conditions would give it a higher frequency of maintenance.

The Liard/Mackenzie west area have the lowest traffic volumes on the highway system and we are lowering the category by one level which will mean somewhat less frequent blading in the summer, et cetera. And I don't have the maintenance management system with me or memorized, but we can certainly make that available. It's a guideline for the amount of maintenance one would expect; the number of dry bladings per season, for example, one would except to do. The maintenance foreman and superintendent don't follow that standard slavishly. It's a guideline as to what should be expected if conditions warrant. If conditions are good, they may even be able to maintain a level of service with less. If conditions are bad, they may require more. In the end, the judgement of district superintendents and foremen about what is acceptable prevails. But, certainly, the maintenance standard can give you a pretty good idea of what to expect, and that could be made available. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This budget does not really have a breakdown of exactly how many cutbacks will be in my constituency with this highway operation. All I know is there is going to be a major cut, about $1.572 million, that I've been able to determine, in highway maintenance operations. I would like to know if it's possible for the Minister to tell me exactly how much less operating costs we will see in my constituency. Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Chairman, I will provide the Member with a breakdown of where the cuts are, post-haste. I want to say again that I know it is an important issue in the riding and there are cutbacks. We will provide the anticipated cutbacks along with a detailed examination of where it is now and where it is going to be, based on the cuts. That will put the Member in a better position to see how much the impact is going to be in terms of the quality and standards of roads in his area. Thank you.

Thank you once again, Mr. Chairman. These types of cuts are going to have an impact on the department.

The people who are doing a very good job administering this work in my constituency out of Fort Simpson -- the superintendent, the foreman, and so forth -- are going to be facing complaints from the public. Now, they get maybe two or three complaints once in a while and they easily handle them. With these new cutbacks, I predict they are going to have a heck of a lot more problems. You are not be going to grade the highway as often in the wintertime as well as in the summer and people are going to complain.

They are going to end up trying to deal with all these complaints; more complaints with less money. They are going to run into some problems. How are you going to deal with that? Is the superintendent going to be forwarding the complaints to myself, as an MLA and to other MLAs with similar problems, or are they going to be forwarding the complaints to headquarters? If there's a serious concern about safety, if the road deteriorates to the point where there are a lot of problems, how is that going to be addressed through your department? Who is going to be responsible? Thank you.

The superintendent, of course, is well aware of what we've done as are other divisions in the department where we've had to cut. He would be in the front line, in terms of receiving concerns and complaints. He would then transfer them to the director in Yellowknife and we would try to deal with them as expeditiously as we can. Thank you.

Thank you. I, too, obviously, am very concerned about the reductions in this activity. Following the comments made by Mr. Antoine and the information provided by the Minister, I am very curious about what is happening to the status of the Dempster Highway and whether that has also been reduced or upgraded. I would like to know what category that highway is now classified under.

I can provide the honourable Member, as I will Mr. Antoine, with his highway's share of the cuts, Mr. Chairman, if that's okay with the honourable Member.

I will try to provide it post-haste. I don't have it at my fingertips at this time.

I don't necessarily want all the technical details, I'm more interested in the level of service. At one time, in the highway transportation strategy, the Dempster took second priority behind the Providence/Yellowknife highway. That was based on the condition of the road and the level of traffic. There was major work to be done. I assume that capital dollars are still going to be there in the future because there needs to be some upgrading of that road. It concerns me and the people I represent. Every year we are getting higher levels of tourism traffic. It is a growth industry for us and we have to provide safe roads for those people.

Another concern of mine which has been mentioned by others is the winter roads. I've consulted with a lot of people in the Delta and have provided the Minister with some letters stating their concerns. We've heard a lot about that. Sometimes winter gets delayed -- and I know we can't control it -- and people who have responded to the information provided by the Minister early last year still feel it should be done on an on-demand basis. As I said, we never know when it's going to melt. That's a comment.

I have another concern and maybe the Minister can provide the information, unless he has it at his fingertips. There's a reduction in this activity of 10.6 continuing PYs and about 3.4 casual PYs. Where have these cuts been made?