Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have some general comments with regard to the department, specifically with Highway No. 3, and I appreciate that the Minister is looking for additional funding and is optimistic that we may soon see a larger portion or, at least a portion of what would be $1.8 billion, instead of a reduced amount for highway infrastructure. That is good news. I think we sorely need it.
I am, obviously, most familiar with the problems surrounding Highway No. 3, and that is the highway that I am most concerned about. There are two real issues for me and my constituents. The first one has to be safety. I have driven that road many times in the past. Many of my constituents also drive the road. I feel that it is not safe. Obviously, it is not up to national standards. I do not even think that is a question in anybody's mind, but after bad weather conditions, I think it is downright treacherous.
I think it is only a matter of time before we see further accidents on the road and that is terrible. I think we have to do whatever we can to prevent that. Given that, I understand that this government does not have any more money to put towards roads and the money is going to have to come from the federal government. We have to do whatever we can to lobby the federal government, on whatever basis necessary to get some more money to upgrade the infrastructure we now have.
I think the argument with the federal government is going to be that we do not want to put a price on safety and we do not think governments can put a price on safety, but we see it all the time. Governments do. The federal government has and will continue to do that. Obviously, if cost was no object, we would have our road and it would be safe. So there is a price, but I think we have to argue to the federal government that tourism is suffering as a result of the condition of that road, as is industry. I think that that is what they are very concerned about. Right now, they get all the royalties from all the mineral development in the North and obviously it is going to be very lucrative in the future. I think they should be interested in ensuring that road is up to standard so that it can be effectively used by industry. That is sort of backwards logic. We would like to see control and devolution of the authority and get the resources ourselves, but in the meanwhile, I think we have to lobby them hard in this area and explain that industry will suffer as a result of that road.
In one of the accidents last year where a tank truck flipped off the road, there was some indication that the driver was sort of forced off the road, or had to go off the road as he passed another truck in that area. And also some discussion that at certain points in that road, two semi-trailer trucks cannot actually physically meet without one of them going off the road. That is a scary thing to think about. If that indeed is true, then that is something that we have to look at immediately, because I think the results of two trucks meeting at a point in that road, where it is impossible for them to pass, could be catastrophic. I think that has to be immediately addressed.
So, although I do not believe we can put a price on safety, I believe the reality is that the government will. I would like to see them move quickly to spend some money to upgrade all of our roads, but certainly the ones that will affect industry are going to get the attention first, and I think that that is a reality.
With the department's action this last year to lower the speed limit to 70 km per hour on the road, I think that is an indication that they understood the conditions of the road were brutal. This was an attempt to address the safety issue. There were some people who suggested that maybe they would not address safety issues because people would then be motivated to pass these larger vehicles on what is a treacherous road certainly to pass on.
So I think the government had the best intentions. I am not sure what the verdict was. I guess there were no serious accidents, so we can take it to mean it was effective.
I do not know if that is a solution in the future. I do not know if we need to lower the speed on development and lower the speed for tourists and other things. I think we need to fix the road and I know the Minister will continue to lobby hard to get us the money we need and I want to urge him to continue in that manner. Thank you.