Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Air freight is costly when it comes to building supplies and other large items. This is something that the government should keep in mind when reviewing plans for construction projects.
Mr. Speaker, in our present economic times, we have had to make a lot of cuts and a lot of hard decisions building the pipelines versus proposed air fare freight and the cost to our government. Northern Transportation Company Limited presently holds a contract for fuel resupply to the Keewatin and the eastern Arctic. They have worked with this government to cut costs and have developed a new marine resupply structure that will further lower costs to the consumer.
The residents in the communities of the Arctic are satisfied with the present system, Mr. Speaker. All we can do is return to an old item and continue to debate it in this House. If something is not broken, why fix it? Mr. Speaker, because I am not satisfied with the answers that I have received in the past, I must return to this question and the reasons behind the government's decision to pursue the tanker delivery in regard to the eastern Arctic. In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to state the passing of my aunt, Bertha MacLaren, on Wednesday at 10:30 p.m., the 22nd of October in Langley, BC. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.