Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am just saying that the way these documents have been formulated, it does not show the year to year contributions which these access roads are. Although, some of them are ongoing for a few years and if the Members would like to see documentation of the ongoing costs of some of these projects, we will provide that information. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Minister answered part of my question. Does the Minister have or his staff has a handle on approximately how many years this program has been initiated and the number of dollars that have been expended on it? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this very highly successive program of the community access roads was first initiated in the year 1990-91. Yes, we do have figures of how much was expended every year and we could

provide that information if the honourable Member wishes as well. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, are these community access roads a part of a bigger plan? Could they be used as a highway system? Sometime in the future, is there any plan available for the use of these roads as a potential highway at some time or is it strictly for recreational purposes? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, these community access roads are local roads that are initiated by the community. They are used for hunting purposes to get members of the community in the hunting areas as well as accessing recreational areas, perhaps a river, some distance or lake or another bay, a better place to launch a boat. There are a variety of different reasons why these roads are put into place and each one is different from the other. No, there is no overall plan or strategy to eventually use these roads into highways. I think this department is aware that we should look at the overall plan to see what the possibilities are of eventually utilizing some of these access roads as eventual connections between communities. Perhaps it is a way to look at it in the general overall plan. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the honourable Member is correct, his budget is very small and popular with the communities. Some of the communities use this limited funding to do some make work projects and utilize their own equipment to make certain sections of the road every year. I know that in Aklavik, it is going to be a substantial amount before they get into access roads to the foothills of Richardson Mountain. We work very closely with the community leaders and we try to accommodate their wishes the best we can with the limited resources we have. Thank you.

Agreed.

Agreed.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I would like the Minister to advise me as to the amount of contract services from Alberta that are provided by the province that with some training could be provided by northerners in the territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, there are contracts that the departments have for the training of department staff, particularly in the safe operation, motor vehicle safe driving, advanced off-road ice driving techniques, similar for gravel. It is similar to a defensive driving course from the theory point of view and then there is a track set up either on the ice or on the gravel where various manoeuvres are practiced through pylons. To answer your question specifically, I would think with the appropriate training and background this service could be provided by northern companies. I personally have gone through the course. A couple of them, one that is put on by the department and one that is put on by a private company in Yellowknife, just to assess the differences in approaches towards this type of training. With some training enhancement and facilities, this most likely could be provided locally, but in the past the Alberta Motor Association has been providing it.

Thank you. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Would the Minister commit to re-assessing all services that are provided outside of the territories and commit to re-assessing the department's requirements and doing everything they can to use northern contractors to ensure those northern contractors have the opportunity to learn what the department's requirements are and be encouraged to obtain those requirements, so that as much of the economic spin-offs of this government can stay in the territories? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.