Agreed.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, when I look at the 1996 and '97 main estimates, which was approved last year under Transportation, buildings and works, Baffin region, there was $1,330,000 allocated for Clyde River airport terminal building. Mr. Chairman, when I look at 1997/98 main estimates under Department of Transportation, buildings and works, Baffin region, I do not see that $1,330,000. I would like to ask the Minister where that money went and why it is gone? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the honourable Member is referring to an air terminal building. Mr. Chairman, before the ATB can be built in Clyde River, a new gravel pad must be built across from its current location. In Clyde River, the people have to cross the airport to get to the air terminal building. This is a problem. In order to resolve that, we need to build a gravel pad on the town side of the airport and that has to get done first. The access to the current airport terminal building crosses the runway. During review of the capital planning, the community of Clyde River was identified as having too much earthworks scheduled for 1997/98 fiscal year. Therefore, the department deferred the project start date in order to accommodate completion of other projects, which require the earthworks equipment. Just for some background, the community has the following equipment; they have one loader, two trucks, and one dozer. The short building season also contributed to the decision on a number of projects that could be started in the community. As a result of the fiscal restraint and the cutbacks that we have to undertake in this department, we move to defer the planning of the airport terminal building to '98/99, and completion in '99/2000. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for pronouncing my last name correctly. Mr. Chairman, I do appreciate that the

Minister of Transportation just told me that there will be some part-time jobs for spring and summer in Clyde River. I appreciate that. The money I am talking about, in the amount of $1,330,000, is the same amount of that money going to the main estimates in '98/99? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this project, like I said, has been deferred to start the planning in '98/99 and to do the completion in the year '99/2000. The total project has been reduced by $150,000. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Why was the money reduced by $150,000? Did the building shrink before the design even took place?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we have to comply to future budget targets. For planning purposes, we have reduced the total scope of this project by the said amount. As we get into the planning, we will then take a closer look at the scope of the work that is required. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and good afternoon. Mr. Chairman, over the past few days, I have been trying to bring up the situation with the ERS, which is the emergency response service in Iqaluit. Mr. Chairman, we are going to lose our ERS on April 1st, 1997, although there have been several dangerous and life-threatening incidents at our airport. Mr. Chairman, because of federal regulations and changes in those regulations that say and state that we do not need the ERS in Iqaluit and, coming on the heels of the Avery Cooper report commissioned by the government, it was decided that ERS was no longer needed.

Mr. Chairman, I have had some good communication with the Honourable Jim Antoine, the Minister for Transportation. He has been very supportive and the department has been very supportive in this area, but it still leaves a void in my community for fire fighting capabilities. At the present time, all we have in Iqaluit is a volunteer fire department. They do not have the specialized training to fight fires at the airport. They do not have the equipment. My question to the Minister of Transportation is; on April 1st, 1999, who is going to fight those fires at the airport and who is going to be able to do emergency response in the transportation hub for the Baffin region, serving 13 communities and 14,000 people? Mr. Chairman, my question to the Minister would be, will this government commit to providing the proper training for our volunteer town fire department and also the equipment, so that we can tackle any incident that occurs after April 1st, 1997 at the Iqaluit airport? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this department will make a commitment to work with the community of Iqaluit and also with the Department of MACA who provides this training. We will make sure there is adequate training in place in the community with the cooperation with MACA, so that the municipality of Iqaluit and their volunteer fire fighters will have the necessary type of training and backup that is required to provide that service. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, that is indeed good news for our community. I thank the Minister. I wonder if the Minister can also commit for the equipment, because the fire department in Iqaluit does not have the foam, firefighting trucks needed. They do not have the equipment, for example, to get into the fuselage of airplanes and so on. Now, I understand from the Avery Cooper report that number one fire truck at the airport can be upgraded so that it is serviceable for a cost of $260,000. I also understand that the second fire truck has to be replaced at a cost of $600,000. I understand the fiscal situation of the Northwest Territories Government at this time. I wonder if the Minister could commit, pending another review, I have an independent consultant right now looking at the Iqaluit airport situation for me, which I am paying for out of my own constituency budget. I am hoping to have that report on Friday. I wonder if the Minister could commit, at this time, to wait until that report comes out and then see if we can seek additional dollars, so that we can have the proper equipment to fight those fires or any eventuality at the airport. It is great to have the training, but if you do not have the equipment to use with that training, then it is all for naught. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we could work with the municipality to make the current equipment available, but in the Avery Cooper study, it stipulates that the two pieces of equipment, the foam trucks, both need to be upgraded or renovated. Timewise, in what period of time is required, it is a few years, but some time down the line, it is going to be required. To commit, right now, to saying that we will help upgrade this piece of equipment, is a difficult commitment to make at this point in time. Mr. Picco, the honourable Member for Iqaluit, has commissioned some consultants to look at the study again and, pending the outcome of that report, we will carry on the discussion. Something like this, we need to work together and try to come to a satisfactory conclusion and I think this is one of the situations where we are going to have to wait for the results of the study. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the issue here is a fundamental one of safety and concern for human life. You go through the study that was prepared by Avery Cooper, I think it showed one in six million chances of these types of accidents occurring in an airport where ERS could have saved lives. Mr. Chairman, after saying that, in

Iqaluit over the past 18 months, we have had four of these types of incidents and, for lack of a better word, there just seems to be bad karma at the Iqaluit airport. Not only is it an Iqaluit concern, Mr. Chairman, it is also a concern because it is the transportation hub for 13 communities in the Baffin region. If our airport goes down at Iqaluit, there are no roads to take food into Pond Inlet, there are no roads to take food into Broughton, Clyde, Hall Beach or anywhere else. When our airport went down for a couple of days when the CF-18 crashed last summer, there was a considerable cost to the other airlines operating out of Iqaluit. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the Minister's response saying that we would help get training for our firefighters who are volunteers at the town, but I need some kind of help with the equipment. If we do not have the proper equipment, then you cannot fight a fire unless you have a hose and, in this case, you cannot fight a fire unless you have the proper equipment. I know it is difficult for the Minister to commit to funds when we are tight. I wonder if I could take $2 million out of Fort Smith paving, no, just kidding.

---Laughter

I wonder if there is any other sources of funding that we can look at or if there are any contingency funds under ERS available?