Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am aware that Public Works has been advised that the community wishes to withdraw. Public Works will be taking on the responsibility now to operate the water facility in Fort McPherson. MACA has been working with Public Works and the community as to what the overall cost is going to be in this, to see if the community is going to be in need of more funding in order to meet their budget. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the community of Fort McPherson has had nothing but problems with the new water source and the delivery of water. Their water trucks are presently running 20 hours a day, seven days a week because the equipment that the vehicles have, where they have these pups that are pulled behind the vehicles, have broken down and they are only running the smaller units, which is just a tank on the back of a truck.

I would like to ask the Minister, would you investigate to see if those lead vehicles meet the requirement to do justice to this job? That seems to be where the problem is. Will you look at the whole operation of the water vehicles themselves and the movement of the water from the source to the plant?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, both as Minister of MACA and as Minister of Public Works, I have been involved in the overall problems with the water project in Fort McPherson, including the operation of the new trucks. Public Works has been advising me on an ongoing basis as to how they can possibly resolve the problems with the trucks.

Part of the major problem is that the community has no mechanic. Public Works has been working with a local trucking outfit to see if we can get the mechanical work done through them. We have also been working with the trucking company, and I believe it is a local trucking company, to see if there is any interest there in them taking over the operation of the trucks on behalf of the Department of Public Works.

MACA is involved only from the point of assuring the project continues and the community has a water supply. We are well aware of the problems with the maintenance of the trucks and the relationship of the problems of the truck to the condition of the highway. We are working with Transportation as well to see if something can be done with the conditions of the highway to help resolve the problem with the trucks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think the ideal situation in this case will be the replacement of the existing water trucks and putting vehicles there that can handle the conditions of the climate, the road and also the environment that you are working in. Those vehicles have been having problems since the first day out. They have been freezing up at 28 below, which is not really cold, and we have been having problems time and time again. Will the Minister consider replacing these units and getting some units that can do the job?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is going to be a serious decision whether we are going to replace these vehicles because they are very expensive. Everyone was involved, including the community, in the choice of the vehicle selected in the end. There was a suggestion that the community may wish to go with tractor-trailers, but in the end it was decided by all stakeholders, including the hamlet, that the preferred option would be tandems with pups. That is what was chosen.

Mr. Speaker, the trucks and the quality of the trucks and the brand name of the trucks do not suggest that these trucks are in any way poor quality vehicles. They are the standard highway vehicles. They are not internationals, or some other brand that is not known locally. As a matter of fact, I believe they are White Freightliners, and they are quite well known in the Territories as very reliable vehicles. It would take a very serious decision on the part of MACA and Public Works to replace these trucks with some other form of truck. Someone has to pay for these trucks. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, someone has paid for those trucks and paid dearly in cost overruns and expense to this government and the residents of Fort McPherson. These vehicles have been nothing but a headache from the word go. I think as a government, we have to do something drastic to ensure the water supply is available to the residents of Fort McPherson.

The water is great. The problem is the delivery mechanism that we have. Will the Minister report back to me and the Hamlet of Fort McPherson as soon as possible as to what his department is going to do to ensure this problem is dealt with?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a short answer, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I will get back to the Member after we have reviewed the issue with the community and the Department of Public Works. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Public Works had done, on behalf of MACA, a core needs assessment of gravel in a number of communities in the South Slave region, including Lutselk'e and Fort Providence. I am told that it was done between May and December of 2001. I will get back to the Member as to what Public Works and Services came up with and as to what they identified as the core needs for the community.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will pass that on immediately to the department to have a look into this for the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.