Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Member's concerns regarding the NWT construction industry's ability to respond to our need for capital improvements on the highway is not really our concern, as it shows that in the past, our expenditures were in fact at the same level historically as we are proposing now. As a matter of fact, I believe that in the mid-1990s, we were spending a similar amount of capital funds on Highway No. 3. Interestingly enough, as we approach Yellowknife and the expensive sections of the highway, our capital funding was falling dramatically because we did not have the funding here. It was not a question of the ability of our construction industry to meet our needs. It was really a question of our ability to come up with capital revenue. I do not think we will see a problem where we get such major projects that our local contractors cannot handle the job.
We are hoping, and I think that is a legitimate expectation, that the contractors would in fact be able to respond. If not, they would be willing to expand because this is not a short-term proposal here where we are just talking about one or two years of major capital expenditures. We are spreading this over a number of years.
There is no doubt, as the Member suggests, that everyone is going to have to pay the cost. It is really a situation of public expectations of level of service versus cost of service. That is what we are getting into here. In order to meet the demands that the public is placing on us, we have to do something on collecting revenue in order to cover these costs. Some people may look at this as short-term resource revenue sharing with the federal government because in fact the money or revenue that we would be receiving through the toll in the mining or oil and gas industry would have been revenue that would have been heading to the federal government as royalties or taxes. We are just taking first crack at that revenue before it ends up in the federal governments coffers.
So should we in fact in the future have resource sharing? Future governments could consider at that time whether they want to continue with the toll charge. So that is basically the plan at this time. I know the question of Hay River and what effects it will have on Hay River, even though Hay River for one thing, is right at the border. So the impact there, as far as the cost per kilometre, is going to be very different than what it costs, for instance, in Fort Good Hope or Yellowknife. Definitely.
Even right now, if you go to Hay River, everything is cheaper there than it is in Yellowknife. I know that. I have had the opportunity of making expenditures there. I find that hotels, cost of living, meals in general are quite different from the cost that I was paying myself in Yellowknife. So I did appreciate the low cost of living in Hay River.