Mr. Chairman, the point I am trying to make is that now with these increases in this supplementary, the budget allocation for one riding has doubled because of these supplementary approvals, and then now we hear that there is going to be engineering costs and what not. As soon as I hear engineering costs, I associate that with a permanent road. I would like to ask again from the Minister of Finance, where will those additional funds come from? Will they be coming out of cuts to other areas, other roads which are presently in the budget?
Debates of Nov. 16th, 2000
This is page numbers 943 - 983 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairman.
Topics
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 974
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 974
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 974
Joe Handley Weledeh
Mr. Chairman, I just want to assure the Member first, that it is not coming out of cuts from other budgets. I will let the Minister of Transportation explain what he is doing here. Thank you.
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 974
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Vince Steen Nunakput
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the question the Member is asking is really not related to this particular road. The $963,000 the Member is referring to is in fact money to upgrade the Mackenzie Highway route. Some of that is bridge money. Some of it is just improvements on stream crossings, things like that. It is not tied in at all with any activity on the Colville Lake route. The references to the engineering, we are not going to do major engineering work here. We might take the corner off of a bend, or we might straighten out part of the right-of-way so that people could drive it in some degree of safety. That is all the engineering we are planning here at this point.
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
Mr. Chairman, when you talk of a public winter road system, to me that means that the road has to be recognized under the Highways Act. The Highways Act recognizes all road systems. It recognized the winter road from Inuvik to Aklavik to Tuktoyaktuk to wherever. We pay for that. That is recognized under the Northwest Territories Act. Since this is classified as a public road system, does that fall under the Northwest Territories Act, that winter road systems that we maintain as a government?
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Vince Steen Nunakput
Mr. Chairman, we are in the process of applying for a right-of-way for our winter road. We do not have a winter road. We are just using the cat-train trail right now. The applications are before the Mackenzie Valley Water Board at this point and, like I said earlier, it is going to involve three different landlords, so at that point, once we have a right-of-way, we would then declare part of the public winter road system. At this point, it is just a cat train trail.
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
Just for the record, the water board that they are dealing with is the Sahtu Land and Water Board. I would like to ask a question of the Minister. Is this road recognized under the Northwest Territories Highways Act?
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Vince Steen Nunakput
Mr. Chairman, I tried to explain to the Member that it is not recognized yet because it is not a road.
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
November 16th, 2000
Page 975
David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
I think that is something the department should maybe check into because if we are spending public funds to maintain either a cat-train or a winter road to anywhere, that those roads are usually classified in the Highway Act as winter roads. I know for a fact, since I was involved in the land claims for the Sahtu, that this route was withdrawn, preserved, and protected as a highway route for the Government of the Northwest Territories. On one hand you are telling me it is not, on the other hand, there is an actual route where access was given to this government for a road.
In regard to these engineering studies that you have mentioned, what is the reason for having engineers as part of this cost effort? Are you going to survey this route? Is that the game plan?
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Vince Steen Nunakput
Mr. Chairman, the question is getting quite technical now and I do not know exactly what engineering the department is considering. In the information they have given me, it is $80,000 for engineering studies, mechanical brushing, and preliminary grade work to permit public traffic to use the road.
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
The Chair Paul Delorey
Mr. Steen, your microphone was off there. If you want to rephrase that last part.
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Vince Steen Nunakput
Mr. Chairman, the information I have as to the type of engineering work that is going to be undertaken is for engineering studies. I do not know exactly what that includes, but it is the mechanical brushing and there is preliminary grade work to permit public traffic to use the road. That is the information I have. Exactly how much of what type of engineering is involved here, I would not know, Mr. Chairman.
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
Thank you. From what the Minister is saying, it sounds to me that we are in it for the long term, doing these engineering studies and what not. Does the Minister of Finance know what the long-term costs associated with this road are going to be, in regard to the budget of the whole government?
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
The Chair Paul Delorey
I do not know if that is going beyond the scope of this bill or not, asking for long-term figures, but I will give Mr. Handley a chance to comment on that.
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Joe Handley Weledeh
Mr. Chairman, if we were going to stay in this road over the long haul, then the total cost this year of course is the $195,000. The following year it is estimated at $301,000. The following year after that, $191,000, and the following year after that it would revert back to roughly $90,000 once all the initial work had been done. That is as close an estimate we have, if we were to continue this over the long haul. Thank you.
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Committee Motion 38-14(3): To Defer Item "system And Communications" Under The Department Of Public Works And Services, Capital Investment Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 975
Leon Lafferty North Slave
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Listening to Minister Steen, the Minister did mention that you cannot charge a toll or you cannot tell anyone they cannot travel on a public road. Now, if you build this road, how do you expect to get your costs back from the industry once it is declared a public road? Thank you.