Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have a lot to add, but since I last spoke a few speakers ago, I just wanted to thank the Minister for the updates on the various projects that I had asked him about. One thing...

---Interjection

He's still on my list.

---Laughter

The one thing I had asked him about was the possibility of a winter road for the Kam Lake access road, in the interim, as a temporary measure to address the traffic jam and the safety issues that are prevalent on the Old Airport Road during winter months during rush hour. I have been around long enough to know that it's hard to come up with original ideas and I find it hard to believe that the Minister has never heard of this possibility before; and, if he hasn't, the Minister did indicate that he would be interested in talking to the city about that. But, before that, could he get his staff to look at the feasibility and the cost and share that information with us? I think the winter road technology is one that is very well known. It's done a lot in the North and provides a means of transportation in the winter months. I am assuming that there is all of the knowledge and expertise within the department. I wouldn't mind having information on the possibility of that before he goes and discusses that. Perhaps he has already discussed this possibility already. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, my point was that this was not an issue that was raised to us for discussion at this point. We certainly have heard of it informally. We will commit to having that discussion with the city. I want to point out, though, that the city still calls the shots on the bypass roads. We have an interest. We want to work with the city, but it has to be a joint initiative. We don't want to make decisions without the city's involvement. When we have discussions on the Kam Lake bypass road as a whole, we will raise it as part of our discussions.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Ms. Lee.

Thank you. I appreciate that. I am glad that the Minister has stated repeatedly that he would consult with the city on various issues. It is just that I don't know what kind of work is involved in that. I just want to get some information on that possibility. Would that be a scope of work that would take a lot of work to find out what would be involved in that? I don't want to ask the Minister to do a whole lot of work on this feasibility, but I find it hard to believe that the department doesn't have this already done up or somebody there has thought about it. Maybe the city has brought it up. I don't know. Anyway, I do appreciate the Minister saying that there is a process going on with the city. He did indicate earlier that there is a memorandum of understanding being drawn up. I don't want to interfere with the process that is in place already. More than anything, I am curious as to the possibility of that winter road. Anything the Minister could provide in that regard, I would appreciate it.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. McLeod.

Madam Chair, it would probably be a very relatively easy exercise to cost out this project and what is required to be done in order to have this happen. The toughest part will be to ensure that we have the availability of the land and sorting out the land issue for building a winter road. We will certainly commit to having those discussions with the city.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Next on my list for general comments is Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Further to my questions earlier on the cost and transferring the cost of the Yellowknife Airport expansion to consumers, I wanted to pursue this a bit more. We are looking at a 10-year picture here of financing this according to what the department has provided, about $660,000 a year coming from the people who use the aviation industry. I know the department was involved in some very intense negotiations with the CATSA folks, Canadian Air Transport Security Agency.

Madam Chair, I had heard from some folks on the private sector side of the airline industry here in Yellowknife that our department did, indeed, really go to bat and fought the good fight. I think that is worth acknowledging here. That tells me that they certainly didn't take this lightly, and they know what the impacts are going to be. But, I want to keep on pressing this, Madam Chair, as taking $6.5 million out of the business and the public's pockets is not something that I do lightly and that this Assembly should take lightly.

What other avenues can we pursue to try and find some other places to collect some of those revenues? I am quite prepared, I think, to speak on behalf of my constituents and say that we are ready to pay some for having a safe, secure and a convenient airport facility. But, we are a very small market. In fact, I think, Madam Chair, if you peel back the layers, there is quite a small number of people in businesses who use the services of that airport quite extensively. So we are really putting a lot of the cost of this on the backs of a smaller population

than we might think. Where else can we go to get even some help with this $6.6 million?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.

Madam Chair, I pointed out earlier that we did look at a number of options. In my opinion, I think we have exhausted all avenues of raising this revenue, short of an airport improvement fee. That is something that probably could be considered. We had moved away from that concept because we felt that landing fees and terminal fees were at a level where we could raise them and still be on par with other jurisdictions. We negotiated well over a year with CATSA. We really made the point. We were very adamant on our position, that we pointed out all kinds of arguments in terms of how and why we should be funded. We did make some success. We made some headway. The end result was that we still had to cover a $6.6 million price tag. I really wouldn't know where else to turn to have new revenues. We went to FMB. The direction was cost recovery. At the end of the day, whether we covered through landing fees, terminal fees that are paid by the actual passengers or we go to the government, it is all going to be covered by the taxpayer's dollar. But, I don't know where else to go. I certainly would consider going to other places. It wasn't our desire to incorporate a new cost-recovery fee, but that was the position we were in. We certainly didn't want to compromise the project. We realize that there is a need for more space, and we had to do this and put in a system that would be able to pay for this expansion. This is one of probably the 20th busiest airports in Canada. There is a requirement for additional space. We've gone everywhere that we can think of to get new dollars so we wouldn't have to incorporate a fee. I guess it is our last resort. If the Member has any suggestions, we certainly welcome them.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Braden.

Madam Chair, I will certainly keep my eye out for any other potential source of revenue. I hope that we are going to keep this cost centre open and look for ways in which it can be reduced or shortened somehow or some time if there is something that we can do. Airport landing fees and things of this nature -- taxes, levies and tolls -- have this bad habit, Madam Chair, of becoming permanent. We tend to like them around. We become dependent on them. We forget why they were originally there. So this is something that 10 years from now, I hope there is someone within this department or on the floor of the Legislature who is going to have a look at something and say that was paid off. I guess we can actually help the traveling public somewhere along the line. So let's keep that one open.

Madam Chair, the one other area that I wanted to explore, and then that will be it for me for general comments, is the really exciting and innovative program that the department led in the strategy to reduce impaired driving. There were a number of events in the last few months here and across the territory that showed that we do mean business about the impact of impaired driving and especially about the message that we need to get across to youth. I think just about every Member of this Assembly, at one point or another, had a chance to participate and compliment the department. I certainly compliment the organizations like St. Pat's Students Against Drinking and Driving who were real motivators. I wanted to ask the department, Madam Chair, I thought I saw somewhere on some piece of paper -- we get a lot of paper flying around here -- that said that there was a sunset that we were reducing our investment in the strategy to reduce impaired driving. Is that the case, Madam Chair? Are we tuning down the message? Are we turning down the volume on this? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member is correct; we are sunsetting some money for the program. It is in the area in communications that we set up for the introduction and incorporation of this program. It is $85,000. However, we have funding budgeted for ongoing communications in that area.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Could the Minister give me a snapshot or refer me to what the ongoing plan is? I want to be satisfied, Madam Chair, that we are not just having a big flash and letting this message go. This is the kind of thing that, from my point of view, is a regular maintenance message. It must be put out there, and we've got to be aggressive and consistent in the message. Can the Minister advise me if we are meeting those kinds of benchmarks? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, it is our intent to continue bringing this message forward. It is an important one. I think the whole program has been very well received. We will continue to provide good communications with the residents of the Northwest Territories for the long term. One of the things we are working on doing is providing signs in and around communities so that people don't lose sight of this initiative and it doesn't become taken for granted. We will continue, as we move along, to build in an initiative so that this message is out there.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. General comments on Transportation. Do I hear detail? Does the committee agree that we proceed? Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am just looking at the time and the amount of time the witnesses have been in their chairs. I thought that a break might be appropriate in the very near future.

Thank you. That seems like a good idea, so we will take a short break. Thank you.

---SHORT RECESS

I will call the committee back to order. Welcome back, everyone. If the committee is agreed, we will go now to detail.