Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it is unfair, especially socially and economically. A lot of regions do not have the benefits that regions like Yellowknife have where you get the diamond industry and a lot of spin offs from the secondary industries that come with it. Yet, in the Mackenzie Delta where we depend on these contracts, I see a major cut.
Mr. Speaker, some $7,689,000 of the Transportation budget goes into one highway, yet the total budget of the Transportation highway budget totals $16 million. Almost half of that budget goes into one highway.
I would like to ask the Minister why is there not consideration given to the economic benefit that comes from this type of contract? When will he distribute it fairly so all people in the North get the fair share of this money distributed based on need, not just putting it all in one highway? We have some 2,000 kilometres of highway, yet we are only talking 300 kilometres here.