Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to stand up today to talk about the work of the Department of Transportation this past summer on resurfacing some of the roads or our highway system in the Northwest Territories. Specifically, I would like to refer to Highway No. 6, the highway going from Buffalo Junction to Fort Resolution.

Mr. Speaker, my constituents in Fort Resolution appreciate the attempt made by the Department of Transportation to resurface the roads, but I must argue, Mr. Speaker, that I believe the department lost an opportunity. They lost some, not all, opportunity to do a job that could benefit the community of Fort Resolution and increase the safety of that road.

What they have done, Mr. Speaker, is just graded the road and slapped down some chip seal. In a matter of hours and days the chip seal started breaking up, so the contractor that did the work should go back and fix it. I believe the department is using its own resources to fix those roads.

However, Mr. Speaker, with all the unprecedented development that is happening in the Northwest Territories, I believe the department missed an opportunity to use this work that was needed to do some training; heavy equipment training, people doing surveying, engineering training for my constituents and other constituents in the Northwest Territories. Traditional knowledge people that could work with the department and determine the natural flow of water so that we could avoid as much water damage as possible to the highway system.

I believe it could tackle the lack of all this training and partner with the Department of Education and prepare people for work that is upcoming in the oil and gas and mining industry. We need truck drivers, we need engineers, we need surveyors and we definitely need to utilize traditional knowledge as we agreed to do in our recognition that traditional knowledge is a scientific process that should be acknowledged in the Northwest Territories, especially with our diminishing weather patterns.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to be asking the Minister of Transportation some questions relating to my Member's statement, especially in the areas of improving the mistakes that have been made this past summer, or alleviating the mistakes made this past summer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause