Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I believe Mona Morrow from Weledeh Catholic School is here as well on tour today. So I want to welcome one of my constituents. Thank you.

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I would like to welcome you to the House also, and I will always welcome you back. You are always at home in the House, so come on back and visit. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Mr. David Speakman, a one-time Sahtu constituent now living in Yellowknife. I also recognize Ms. Eleanor Young who works for MACA.

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Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my statement today, I explained how expensive life is in the Sahtu, and how the cost of travel separates us from our families, the good jobs, and how the cost of food is overwhelming us. Yes, we have a winter road, but it is only open for about seven to 12 weeks, and that depends if the winter road is really long, and if it is really cold outside and the snow is good. We wouldn't limit anyone in Yellowknife to seven weeks of grocery shopping, or visiting other communities, or visiting families, et cetera, for the whole year so I don't think the government should ask the good people of the Sahtu to do that either.

I offer the solution of an all-weather road. An all-weather road would increase the quality of life for the people in the Sahtu by 100 percent. You need to connect the communities of the Sahtu before we connect south. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Transportation if he is interested in reallocating some of the funding for the Canal proposal to connect the communities of the Sahtu by all-weather road. Thank you.

Minister of Transportation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Transportation is also very interested in the concept of an all-weather road into the Sahtu, from Wrigley to Good Hope. The early engineering studies have indicated that the cost of this road is approximately $220 million, and we certainly don't have that kind of money within our budget, but we have been fortunate to access some money through the SIFF program where we would partner 50/50 with the federal government.

Over the next five years, we intend to extend the use of the winter road in the Sahtu. We are investing a total of $46 million over the next five years. We intend to put in 23 bridges in that area, we are also expecting to do a lot of grade work. This will result in an extended season. As for the question of moving money from one project to another, I believe it was referenced in the Member's statement that Highway No. 4 was suggested; right now we are looking and talking to the federal government in identifying other projects. However, moving more money into the Sahtu is not something we are considering at this time. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Minister. Would the Minister commit to consider writing another proposal to the Minister of Transportation with the federal government to initiate the development of the all-weather roads in the Sahtu?

Minister of Transportation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have already embarked on that line of discussion. We have met with our MP to discuss the possibility of her assisting us in setting up a meeting with Tony Valeri, the federal Minister, and she has also indicated, through a call to me this morning, that she has talked to him and he's very interested in talking to myself and our officials about a number of issues, including new programs and how they will unfold. We need to have a good sense of where the national highway strategy is and the possibility of further access of dollars to the SIFF program. We also want to talk about some of the projects that were listed under A-Cap and some of the projects that didn't get funding this year. We want to talk to him about a number of things, so he has indicated he is willing to meet and we are trying to set our schedules accordingly and trying to arrange for that meeting. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Minister. Would the Minister consider looking at developing some training proposals and opportunities for people in the Sahtu to begin training in road building and heavy equipment operation? Thank you.

Minister of Transportation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, in light of the high amount of activity that we're expecting in the Sahtu and the amount we're planning to invest in that area, I would certainly be willing to meet with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment to discuss the opportunities. We are also planning a tour and I want to meet with the members of the communities in the Sahtu to discuss and talk about the different options out there. We believe industry also has a role in this, and they have indicated they were interested in having that discussion. So we will commit to talk to the departments that we believe should be part of this. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks Mr. Minister. My final question, Mr. Minister, is that the Sahtu is quite a distance from the regional office in Fort

Simpson where they have the highway office. Would the Minister consider instructing his department to assess the feasibility of having the regional office of Transportation in the Sahtu region? Thank you.

Minister of Transportation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have looked at the issue of having the office for Transportation in one of the communities in the Sahtu. At the present time, we are looking at costing it out and looking at the pros and cons and how effective it would be and where and how we could set it up. We haven't concluded that review, but we would be glad to share our findings with the Member when the entire review has been concluded. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question this morning is for Mr. Handley, in his capacity as the Minister responsible for the Mackenzie River bridge project. Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, we heard from my colleague, Mr. Delorey, about situations such as rapidly-rising steel prices in Canada. We know we're already dealing with an unexpected potential delay in the project due to environmental and regulatory hearings. This is a significant project for the whole of the south Mackenzie region. I'm a bit concerned and I've heard expressions from the business community that they are also concerned with the viability of this project. I wanted to ask Mr. Handley just what steps are available for government that we can do to help keep this project not only alive, but keep it healthy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Members know, this project is a private/public partnership. The private ownership of it is the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation. The bridge corporation has approached us and we have, as I told Members, provided up to a $2 million loan guarantee to them, and I have advised Members that we have extended that for a year.

Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased yesterday when Mr. McLeod, the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation and myself were advised that the federal government, through DIAND, have now approved a $3 million contribution to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation.

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I appreciate the work that our Member of Parliament, Ethel Blondin-Andrew, has done on this project for us. I think this now gives the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation the working capital that they need in order to continue this project ahead. But, Mr. Speaker, the only hold-up right now is on the environmental assessment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And that's great news. Thank you.