Mr. Vician.

Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is discussion happening, as I understand it, but is there a timeline as to when you think something will be nailed down? Again, it is a further responsibility that is added to existing staff. You would almost see a need for an increase in that area.

Mr. Vician.

Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to touch base on safety on the highways. I have been addressing this issue for some time now in the House, practically since we started the 14th Legislative Assembly. Every time I ask questions on it, it seems to be a very complicated issue as to who wants to take responsibility for safety on our highways.

The more we talk about it, the more we talk about enforcement on our highways. I think that is great that we do have a lot of kilometres of highway to patrol and that is a big task in itself. My major concern is not so much in the enforcement end of it. I can drive all the way from Hay River to Edmonton some times and not see a police car or any kind of patrol car on the highway. Sometimes you see a lot, sometimes you do not see any.

Very often, you see signs along the highway as to what number to dial if you come across an accident or if you have to get a hold of someone. This is the area I have addressed a number of times in the House. I still do not see any signs on the highway. It is still an issue with me. Whether it is a tough situation to address or whether it is hard to address, it is still a safety issue. In my view, there are lives at stake out there if there is an accident.

We have to somewhere address the fact that we have to get a handle on this. We have to be able to put some information out there and help the travelling public as to what to do if they come across an accident or even if they are involved in an accident.

It seems to be very slow in coming. I have been told on a number of occasions when I have addressed it that there are a number of different departments involved. There is Transportation, Health and Social Services, MACA. For the area that the Department of Transportation is involved in, I would like to know exactly what the department is doing in that area.

Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, since the Member has been voicing this concern, I have been discussing with the department what we could do in order to make the public aware of how they could contact the authorities if in fact they come across an emergency situation. I believe the Member has a very good suggestion in that the department should be posting signs advising the general public, in particular by region or by area, as to what the numbers to call for emergencies. We do not have a 911 system, so it would be very beneficial. I agree with the Member that it would be very beneficial to the general public to be made aware of what the RCMP number for emergencies is, or what exactly is the authority that the general public would be reporting to, depending on the type of emergency they are dealing with.

I agree with that, and I agree that there is a need for this. I have been discussing this with the department as to what we can come up with as a way of responding to the Member's concerns. We had previous meetings with Health and Social Services whereby there is some discussion going on as to who would respond to an emergency situation, which ambulance from what community, et cetera. I think both MACA and Health and Social Services are looking at this.

Realistically, there is a need to advise the public as to what the numbers are to contact the authorities. Thank you.

Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. One of the suggestions I had made and talked about a little bit was that the trucking industry has a very large presence on our highway. There are quite a few of them. Most of them check in at the scales. I had hoped if we could at least get our boundaries set up as to what areas are supposed to be answered to by someone in Yellowknife, someone in Hay River, or wherever. Once they figured out what areas are going to be responded to, we could get some kind of little sticker that would have the different numbers for the areas on the highway and hand them out at the scales to the truckers, so they know where they are out on the highway and who to get a hold of.

In a lot of cases, they are the only ones who have communication devices out there on the highway. They can get a hold of someone to get help out on the highway. That is one area where we could make some improvement and help out the travelling public. I was wondering if there has been any movement in that area, Mr. Chairman?

Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, I am aware of the highway pamphlets which have the emergency numbers included in the rest of the information. Those pamphlets are available at the scales, the truck stops. If there is a further need, or somewhere we could supplement this with highway signs, I would definitely prefer the option of putting signs up that identify the numbers for contact in case of emergency.

Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just one area I would like to have some information on if the department could maybe look into, or maybe they have looked into, and that is the area of 911. I know it might be very expensive to have it throughout the Territory, but as soon as you go over the Alberta border when you are driving south, there is a sign that says 911 is in place.

What would it take to extend that service further north, as far as we could? Is there any way we could access that system through part of the Territory? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, the problem with access to 911 is more related to what telecommunication systems NorthwesTel has in place. At this point in time, NorthwesTel does not have anything that would allow for 911. As the Minister of Public Works, I could bring this to the attention of NorthwesTel.

We are under motor vehicles, page 10-31, budget summary, operations expense, total operation expense, $2,508,000.

Page 10-33. Motor vehicles, grants and contributions, information item.

Page 10-34. Active positions, information item.