Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I intend to bury this problem.

-- Laughter

And the cable. Mr. Speaker, the Digital Communications Network is now installed in 32 communities. The company that has the contract to provide it, ArdiCom, has fulfilled its responsibilities in that capacity. There have been some inadequacies with the system. It is not clear to what extent it is ArdiCom's responsibility and what extent it is our responsibility. That is still being sorted out by the department.

The uses for the Digital Communications Network system are fine when it comes to links such as the FIS, PeopleSoft, motor vehicles, Internet access and so on. Where we run into problems is where you need greater bandwidth to allow for videoconferencing, or in the case of Health, I think possibly somewhere even greater assurance of reliability of the system. There is some need for what is referred to as premium bandwidth service performance. There should not be much ambiguity here, but if a department pays for a premium bandwidth, then it is up to the company to guarantee that is provided. The department who wants it has to pay for it.

We have recently contracted with the Gartner Group, an independent information technology think tank group, to review our Digital Communications Network. They have completed their study and their report is now being reviewed by the department. We are aware of the problem. We are trying to alleviate it. As I mentioned, the bandwidth that is being purchased may not, in some cases, provide the reliable service that you may need in Health. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would be very curious to see that review and I am hoping the Minister will bring that review to the House. I would suggest to him that he would have to kill the project before he could bury it. I think it would be much wiser if we would shovel some money at it, buy the bandwidth we need, and start to reap the cost saving benefits sooner. I am wondering if the Minister can commit to sharing the review with us?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the honourable Member's advice in terms of what priorities we should have as a government and where to put some of our meagre resources. I will take that advice very seriously. I certainly intend to kill the problem and lay it to rest. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just quickly, will the Minister commit to sharing the review with this House? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I will.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that the review has already been completed, can we get that as soon as possible? Like next week? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would have to check with my department first and see whether or not it is in a form that could be released. I understand it is accepted as their report. We are doing our own review of it now. If it is released early, then I urge Members to remember this is the consultant's report. It is not our recommendations at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Paul Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to speak to the department and then I will get back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was an amount of money budgeted for the Hay River area in the form of putting a bridge across the West Channel. That whole project of putting a bridge across the West Channel, from what I understand, came in $400,000 under budget. The money that was under budget was immediately taken out of that area and spent elsewhere, when there was a piece of highway very close to that bridge that is badly in need of repair. I was wondering if the Minister could confirm whether or not he looked at spending the money that was under budget for the bridge in the Hay River area.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I see this grouped into that area of the discussion we had yesterday of whether or not the Transportation budget is based on funding that is identified for each region. I was hoping that I passed on to the Assembly that the department does not distribute its budget that way. We try and distribute our budget based on where the traffic volumes are, where the highways need repairs or reconstruction.

As I indicated in the past to the Member, there was a surplus of $400,000 on that first project for this year. We redirected that funding towards a winter road bridge at Oka River, I believe. There was no suggestion at any time that if a project is identified as a certain cost, that all of that money would in fact be spent in that area. However, the government has a policy where if we do move money from one project to another, we advise the Members that we are going to do it. We did inform the Members that we were going to do this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We seem to spend a lot of money in trying to develop road systems and address some of that towards attracting tourism. When we have a piece of road that relates directly to tourism, considering other government money that has been spent towards tourism, is there any possibility that this government and the Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation could look at another department such as the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development and maybe combine some money for better tourism when it comes to a stretch of road leading to that tourism avenue?

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.