Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Déclarations de députés. Le député de la Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that the Fort Providence community leadership is looking into a feasibility study on the impact a Mackenzie River bridge would have on the community of Fort Providence. It is also well known that the community is investigating how they might be involved in the ownership of a bridge.

The study is aimed at determining if a bridge is environmentally and financially feasible. Once the study is concluded, the community will assess the findings and determine whether the proposed project should be supported or rejected in principle.

This is a serious venture for the community and has sparked interest not only from private individuals, but from leadership, the band council, the Métis Nation, the mayor and support from myself.

In the meantime, it is distressing to note the negative comments made in the press lately as they question whether there is a need for a bridge and the financial viability of this project.

Mr. Speaker, later today, I will be questioning the Minister of Transportation about statements attributed to his senior staff concerning traffic numbers at the ferry crossing and the media reports that the Merv Hardie Ferry is in such good running order that it will not need another overhaul for the next 20 years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members' statements. Déclarations de députés. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to follow up today on the statement I made yesterday regarding the fuel rebate policy.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to reiterate that I applaud the Minister for introducing this policy that would give help to many who would not otherwise get it. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, there are glaring gaps and inequities in the policy that have been brought to our attention by our constituents. These are valid concerns that ought to be considered. Solutions to these need not be too complex or time consuming to bring about.

The fact is, Mr. Speaker, high fuel costs for running our vehicles and buildings are hurting all of us in our pockets. If this rebate is meant to alleviate that burden for some of us, the basic criteria has to be that the money goes to those who are paying for the fuel bill. I would think that by any standards, this is a pretty straightforward and common sense suggestion.

If the Minister is suggesting, as he did in his answers yesterday, that this is meant to help the working poor as an income supplement, regardless of whether or not their rent went up or they are actually paying the heating bill -- which I will not deny anyone from getting -- this is not still a fuel rebate then. It should not be called as such. That only misleads the public into false expectations. We are receiving many calls from people who want to know how they are qualifying.

Mr. Speaker, I think the bottom line is that we are all hurting and we need a little break. We should also not forget about the commercial users who are running businesses or apartment buildings who could use a break like this, maybe something similar, and who is not necessarily able to pass it on to anyone and they are in a position of having to eat it, and it is eating on their profit, or most of them are running at a marginal level.

Mr. Speaker, for all of these reasons, I would suggest two things could be done that would make it more simple and straightforward. They are:

• • To bring down the NWT tax on the fuel a little across the board so everyone will benefit; or
• • To increase the tax credit for everyone by a little, so that everyone could benefit.

I would think, Mr. Speaker, that this is simple and not complex. It would certainly be a lot more equitable than this rebate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Mr. Antoine. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. Item 3, Members' statements. Réponses à des questions orales. Item 4, returns to oral questions. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Oral Question asked by Mr. McLeod on February 21, 2001 regarding the Hay River Reserve access road.

The Member asked a question and a number of supplementary questions about the departments' traffic volume statistics, traffic accident statistics and maintenance expenditures for the Hay River Reserve access road.

The Member for Deh Cho pointed out that on July 7, 2000, in a statement to this House, I stated that over the past ten years, there have been a total of seven reportable motor vehicle accidents on the Hay River Reserve access road. The Member brought to my attention that in a report provided by research and information serviced in the last month, it indicated that there had been 15 reportable vehicle accidents on the Hay River Reserve access road over the same ten-year period.

Since last July, the department discovered that in some accident reports, the accident location was described as occurring on the Dene village road, which is actually another name for the Hay River Reserve access road. In the recent report the department generated, the accidents that had formerly been recorded as occurring on the Dene village road were included with accidents reported on the Hay River Reserve access road.

The Member further noted the department's traffic volume was published with the disclaimer that for 1999, the mechanical traffic counter on the Hay River Reserve access road malfunctioned and the data is unreliable. However, the department has historical traffic data collected from 1993 to the present that makes up for the poor data collected in 1999.

The Member referred to the 1998-99 annual maintenance cost per vehicle per kilometre for access roads in the Northwest Territories. The per vehicle kilometre statistics is a measure of the public benefit achieved by road maintenance expenditures. It is not a measure of the road maintenance effort performed. For this, the maintenance expenditure per kilometre is the appropriate comparative measure. The department's 1999-2000 maintenance expenditure of $7,558 per kilometre on the Hay River access road is the greatest maintenance expenditure of all 13 access roads in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have another return to oral question asked by Mr. McLeod February 22, 2001 regarding the Mackenzie River ice crossing.

The Member for Deh Cho asked me a question about the M.V. Merv Hardie's ice breaking capability.

The M.V. Merv Hardie ferry, which operates at the Fort Providence Mackenzie River crossing, is not an icebreaker and it does not have any ice-breaking capability. The ferry's operating procedures during freeze-up avoids any interaction with the heavy ice flows and shuts down periodically when there are heavy flow ice conditions.

A crawler backhoe is mounted on the bow of the Merv Hardie and with its bucket cuts and maintains an ice-free channel across the river until the ice crossing is ready for traffic. While the ice crossing is under construction, the ferry transits back and forth 24 hours a day to keep the channel open. The M.V. Merv Hardie is not an icebreaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Résponses à des questions orales. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, mot de bienvenue aux visiteurs. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Thank you and welcome to the Legislative Assembly. It is always nice to see young people coming to observe their Legislative Assembly. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is with a great deal of pleasure that I would like to introduce a number of members from northern region headquarters from the Canadian Armed Forces with us here today. We have five members: Captain Vic Tyerman, he is command controller; Warrant Officer Andy Bishop, personal support services supervisor; Warrant Officer George Frampton, senior physicians assistant; Corporal Stephanie Smith, cashier; and Carla Harper, central registry clerk. They are here with Julia Heyland, our public affairs and communications officer of the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Speaker. Please welcome them.

-- Applause

Bienvenue. Welcome. Résponses à des questions orales. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Ms. Georgina Rolt-Kaiser, the president of the UNW.

-- Applause

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for the North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The question is directed to the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, the honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was a report that was given to Cabinet just before Christmas that was a review of power generation and regulations. This report was shared with the Members of the Legislature, and it is being reviewed. There are consultations underway presently with stakeholders, aboriginal First Nations governments as well as the communities and interested parties.

It speaks to the potential for hydro power in the Northwest Territories and how that might be brought to use to the communities and the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Power Corporation. It is always a question of how as a government we could facilitate bringing cheaper, cleaner and more affordable supply of power to communities and this question is always, I think, uppermost in the mind of the Power Corporation, as well as this government.

There is no quick answer to the question, but we know that Members of the Legislature will speak to the recommendations contained in that report and this Cabinet will address the recommendations in that report, probably some time in March.

The answer may come in bits and pieces, or it may come as a response to the recommendations. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier, Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.