Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will only add to the Minister's comments that we have had ongoing discussions with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, in particular the Canadian Coast Guard branch of DFO, with regard to the presence of ice-breaker support in the Beaufort Delta over the past many years.

We understand at this point in time there is a commitment to ice-breaker services in the Beaufort Delta and continuing on with that ice-breaker support is the overall oversight with regard to coastal water, observation protection, response to emergencies that the federal government does continue to have responsibility for.

In that context, we continue to have discussions with the Canadian Coast Guard to continue with their support of protection of our coastal areas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thought we were on page 10-11. I wanted to go back there. It is dealing with airports, Mr. Chairman, and air transportation in the Northwest Territories.

As the chairman and the Minister would agree, air transportation is a major form of transportation in and around the North Slave and in and around the Northwest Territories, specifically to small, aboriginal communities.

I just returned from Lutselk'e this afternoon at one o'clock. By twelve o'clock, there were five planes into Lutselk'e already. I understand part of the responsibility of the department is to monitor other government legislation by other governments. Further responsibilities overall trends in air transportation safety, infrastructure, technology development, change in opportunities, et cetera.

I just want to know if the department can tell me what legislation is out there to determine that a safety crew, a firefighter crew needs to be at ground level when there is a certain amount of traffic into one particular airport. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

I am willing. Thank you.

No, I do not have any general comments for the Minister. I think we will cover it through the detail. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have some comments. I referred to some of them yesterday, but I will just do a short summary.

I look at the studies and the strategies of the highway. I look at the highway toll, the $100 million that they are putting towards it. By approving this year's budget, I see that we are going to start the process without any intentions or any future plans of the communities that are without all-year access. I do not agree with the budget the way it is, or with the studies and strategies that they have out there. It is hard for me to approve a budget that is leaving certain people out, certain communities out of the future plans of this $100 million we are putting back into the Highway Strategy.

I see communities out there with only air service and maybe one week or two weeks of winter road. Some of them do not get winter roads at all. I see them paying extra freight and extra for all the food and deliveries. I know they get subsidized, but they are paying two or three times higher than people who are living in Yellowknife or in Hay River or in Rae. I do not think it is fair that we are going to make them pay for the extra cost, which is the result of a toll. Rather, I think we should be including them in our plans.

The plan that should be there is to make sure they have an all-year access road or even a feasibility study towards putting a road into these communities. The road can be called any road you want. Those roads that I am talking about could be alternate routes in case we do not have a winter road.

As you know, everybody all over the world is talking about global warming. We see it now. The temperature in Fort Providence today is minus two and this is February, the third week. That is not a normal temperature to have at this time of the year. The last four or five years, we have seen rain in February, rain in January. We are not looking at the future. We are just looking at the existing infrastructure. If we are going to charge a toll to these communities that are not connected by a road, then we should be giving something back to them. If we cannot give them anything back, then we should not be putting a toll on anything which, as the result of the toll, will make them pay higher costs for everything.

All I can say about the strategies and the studies that Transportation has done since 1990 that I have seen, it all leads to making Yellowknife a lot richer. All the money is being put onto highways to campgrounds past Yellowknife. You see about $3,000 signs along the Ingraham Trail. That money could be used for a feasibility study to put an all-weather road into Aklavik.

We were elected by the people to work for the people, not for industry or the campers at Prelude Lake or Cameron River. We were elected by everyone in the Territories. We have to make sure that they have road access. We have to make sure they do not have a higher cost of living. It says when we made our vow that everybody would be treated equally and fairly. Where is the fairness? Where is the equality? There is not any fairness and equality when I see a study by Transportation excluding people. There is no equality there.

It is not fair to ask them to pay extra for Highway No. 3 that leads to Yellowknife. Kakisa is not getting anything. Hay River is not getting anything. I see Aklavik is not getting an all-weather road. I do not see Wekweti getting a winter road next year. We were lucky to get one this year. They are going to be paying the extra costs because of a toll.

So I think this department must look at a future plan. You are going to put $100 million towards a highway strategy, well, let us look at other roads. I know you are going to say it is the federal government's responsibility. In 1990, studies show that the federal government said they will work in partnership if there are resources at the end. Whether their resources are feasible or not, they will support putting a road in, in partnership with the territorial government. I was lucky to get that book today and I had about 15 minutes to read a little bit and I have not finished it, but if I had the time, I think I would have had a lot more comments on this.

If we are going to approve this, we are making a mistake. If we do not have a plan that reaches these communities, then it is not a plan. It is just regular O and M. That is it. Thank you.