Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, the department became aware of it after the fact, in that we were approached by contractors as to their ability to access the pit. We received a letter from the town later requesting access to the pit. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me if he is aware of a letter that was written from the mayor of Inuvik on August 8th to himself, as the Minister of Transportation, requesting access to this pit at the Inuvik airport?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, that is the letter I am referring to. The mayor did write to me as a Minister, yes.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell me then, when did he see the letter that was sent to him on August 8th requesting access to the pit in Inuvik? You stated earlier you were not aware of it until after the fact. As far as I am concerned, that makes it clear. You should have been made aware of it before the fact. When did you see the letter?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of the exact time I saw the letter. I cannot respond to the Member accurately as to what day I received the letter, but it definitely was after the date the mayor wrote it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

I am going to rule the question out of order. You cannot ask a Member's personal opinion. That question is out of order. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

-- Ruled Out of Order

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is the Minister aware of discussions that were held between the public service manager of the Town of Inuvik along with the regional superintendent in the Inuvik region in regard to this pit, which basically took place back on July 31st, at which Mr. Richard Campbell, along with the superintendent, did a tour of the site at the airport to see exactly if it was available for use, which it was at that time, in my eyes, considered by the department. Was the Minister aware that there was dialogue going on between your department and the Town of Inuvik before the contract was let?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was not aware of that, no.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with regard to the activities that have taken place from July until the contract was let in the middle of August, August 17th, I would like to ask the Minister, can he tell me if there is any documentation that he is aware of regarding this activity that was taking place that may have been sent, either through e-mail, to anyone in his office who probably, at this time, are running through their files to find it? Were you aware of any documentation or paper trail that this was taking place?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. I will just caution Members to be careful on how they phrase questions with references to other people. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, I only became aware of the issue and the request to use our quarry site at the time the letter from the mayor came forward. At roughly the same time, I received a call from a contractor asking if we were in fact competing with him in the crushing business. Those two events happened at approximately the same time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, regarding the Minister's answer, could you clarify exactly what you meant if you were competing against him? Did you make the decision that because of the activity of this pit that you were not going to compete against this contractor?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I recall correctly, the question was phrased in such a manner as to request an opinion of me as to whether or not the Department of Transportation was in the crushing business and competing against this particular contractor. My response was that we are not in the crushing business and we are not interested in competing with him or anyone else. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.