Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On February 24th during Committee of the Whole, the Minister of Transportation stated that it is possible to change the alignment of the road going onto the Lac La Martre road. In order to proceed, he needs assurance that this is what the Dogrib communities want. Mr. Speaker, this is good news to me and to the many constituents I have who have been asking for an all-weather road. I immediately wrote to all the chiefs in my region asking for a letter that indicates where they stand on this issue. Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed to say that because all the Dogrib leaders are dealing with land claim and self-government issues, they have still not responded. I have heard that they might be afraid that creating this road will slow down the land claims process. Mr. Speaker, land claim talks have been going on in the Dogrib region for 11 years and implementation will continue for years to come. Meanwhile, my constituents are asking for this road.

I recently visited all the Dogrib communities with the Energy Secretariat. Building this road was part of the hydro strategy and all my communities would like to have hydro power, Mr. Speaker. Building this road is a win/win situation for the communities and the government and this is what they are asking for. The Minister has stated that if there is interest, he will support the formation of a steering committee to examine this issue. I am wondering if he would support me on a survey of this issue to gauge public support. I am confident that the majority of residents are in favour of this venture despite the lack of response from the chiefs. At the appropriate time, I will have questions on this matter for the Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.