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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Member for the question. Mr. Speaker, Highway No. 2 that the Member is referring to has been under some consideration by the department already on an ongoing basis. For the Member's information, at the present time, we are planning some engineering assessments, which will be done this summer.

We already have some estimates as to what it would cost to upgrade this highway because of the poor base it is sitting on. We are estimating it is anywhere between $2.5 million to $3 million to improve the base so we can have a better long-term surface. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the past, I have heard in this House the Minister justify expenditures on highways by the amount of traffic that is on the highway system. The statistics I had were available from 1999. Would the Minister have any more recent figures on the amount of traffic on that stretch of highway from what I had available in 1999? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department, as well as using traffic volume figures for deciding on operations and maintenance for these highways and capital investments, we also take into consideration the existing problems with the highway, regardless of the traffic volume.

In this particular case, this highway has been causing the department some problems for a number of years, simply because of the type of terrain it is built on. We have to take into consideration that we may have to make expenditures on this particular stretch of highway, regardless of whether the traffic volume contributes towards that decision.

In other words, to keep it safe, we would have to make expenditures. This is what the department is doing. We are doing engineering assessments on the highway as to what would be needed just to bring it up to safe standards. That is not to say that it is not in safe standards at the present time, but we do not want it to deteriorate any further than it is. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on the safety issue, there may be some questions raised there. As recently as Saturday, there was an accident on that highway with a car rolling over. I could not say for sure, Mr. Speaker, whether there were any serious injuries from that, but from a safety point of view, that could be an issue right now. Would the Minister commit to having the department put some plans in place for some expenditures on that stretch of road?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not think it is necessary for me to commit anything here. I already told the Member the department is already doing engineering assessments on it. In other words, we are looking at what is going to be necessary to bring this highway up to standards. We are going to be doing the work, yes.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Final supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister just finished saying that piece of highway has been a problem to the department for many years now. Is he telling me that just now, they are going to start putting some plans in place to look at? When can we expect some action on that piece of highway, Mr. Speaker?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I expect the results of the engineering assessment will be reflected in next year's business plans. There will be some discussion within the department as to what expenditures will be necessary. In other words, do we just do a temporary fix or do we do a total expenditure, which we estimate at $2.5 million to $3 million? It all would depend on what access we have to capital expenditures. It will be reflected in next year's plan. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, I have heard that at least one of my constituents has received notice of impending layoff from Stanton Hospital. She was told that this was because of plans to privatize the laundry. Can the Minister tell the House about this change in the operation at Stanton?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have heard of board deliberations around the issue of privatization of various aspects of activity within the hospital. I am not sure of the time lines or what the status of any decisions around that are at this point in time.

I have offered a briefing to Members on the issue of the surgical ward for later this week, and certainly the issue of any privatization initiatives could be added to the agenda for that briefing. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had also heard rumblings that this was one area where privatization was being considered as part of the deficit recovery plan. Is the Minister saying then that this has not been approved as part of the deficit recovery plan?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take that question as notice.

Thank you. The question has been taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.