Agreed.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will keep my comments as brief as possible and I will also include a few questions in it. Mr. Steen, you are well aware of the Northwest Territories, you are a person who has travelled through the Northwest Territories, the Western Territory. You have probably been in just about every community from Fort Smith to Tuktoyaktuk to Sachs Harbour, all the way up the valley. You understand that there is a community up there on the coast called Tuktoyaktuk and Tuktoyaktuk has been trying for years to get a link between itself and Inuvik. Will you as a Minister responsible in your department work with the people of the Beaufort Delta to ensure that they get equal treatment from this government as well as access to some dollars to start looking at the feasibility and try to establish that link between Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In your budget, Mr. Minister, and also through the committee report, committee Members would like to see the amount decreased on Highway 4. This is the road that goes out, the majority of it is used by the diamond haulers and all that to move equipment in and get to the winter road access. In your budget, Mr. Minister, you have $550,000. That is money to be spent, or has that money been spent?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The funding for Highway 4 project which is located approximately six kilometres outside of Yellowknife deals with improvement of the road on the Ingraham Trail. That serves the Ingraham Trail proper but, as well, that specific location serves the community of Detah and a program was set up specifically to deal with spot improvements or safety locations that were at risk. The funding was identified in the past fiscal year at $500,000. The current funding proposed is $550,000 for the current year. The work proceeded last year to begin work and at that stage a multi-year contract was entered into to begin the work. That work carried on during the winter and completion being subject to this year's appropriation. Some of that work has already proceeded and that is where the project sits at this point. All of the funds that are identified with last year's fiscal funding and the proposed

funding for this year will go to the location currently under construction. Thank you.

Some of this money is spent already? The $550,000?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Was any of this $550,000 spent as of today?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, some of the funding has been spent in accordance with the authority under the Interim Appropriation Bill. The contract was identified for expenditure early in the year and that did proceed. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So then Members cannot really consider this project. It is committed, the money is being spent already, the contract has been let, so this committee motion from the Government Operations Committee should have saved the paper it is written on, I guess, on this one because it is already committed, the contract is let, part of the money is spent, even if the Members chose to reduce this, it could not be possible. Thank you.