Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A couple of comments I would like to make with a couple of questions for Minister McLeod. I like the work the Department of Transportation is doing. With the way things are going to be going the next few years, Transportation is going to be really affected by all the development that is going to be going on.
Mrs. Groenewegen spoke to the fact that Hay River is going to see an increase. The Minister mentioned that Inuvik will also see an increase. I know it's been a concern of the town council in Inuvik as one of the roads there, the bypass road, and then there is the road going down to NTCL where a lot of the stuff is going to get unloaded from the barge. I am glad the Minister mentioned that and it was something I was going to bring up.
I had a chance to drive along Highway No. 3, and hear some of my other colleagues speak about their concerns with Highway No. 3, and I found it to be a very good road. That's probably because I drive the Dempster quite a bit. I was surprised how wide the corridors were on Highway No. 3. I wonder if the Minister's department has much contact with the Government of the Yukon on their portion of the highway. Is there some talk back and forth as to how they can improve their portion? There used to be a time when you'd drive the Dempster and you knew you got into the Yukon side because the roads got a lot smoother, but now it's just the opposite; the NWT side seems to be a lot better.
I am glad to see that in the Minister's opening comments, he spoke to the fact that there is going to be $5 million going into the highway. It can be a very dangerous highway in the summertime with the dust especially. The dust is terrible. We've had a few accidents on there. I am surprised there's not a few more because it is really bad when you drive that highway in the summertime. The dust is terrible. There is loose gravel on parts of the highway. They've widened the highway and maybe just because we can't get proper gravel or proper rock to cover the road with. I spoke on chipsealing and we'd love to see from Inuvik right to the Fort McPherson ferry, we'd like to see chipseal there. It would make driving that road much more enjoyable.
I'm a big supporter of the highway down the Mackenzie Valley, like most people I've spoken to a couple of times. I think it would really be a benefit to everyone down the highway. Right now, up in the Beaufort-Delta, we seem to have more in common with Whitehorse than we do Yellowknife, because we all have an opportunity to drive down there and Whitehorse seems to be the one that's benefiting from our big-ticket purchases, vehicles. We get a lot of stuff from Whitehorse. If you go down to Whitehorse at any given time, you see lots of people from the Beaufort-Delta down there. So the fact that we have a highway down the Mackenzie would really help. I think a lot more people would come this way, rather than go to Whitehorse. I think the Minister and his shop are probably the right people to have in place right now to push for our highway. I would suggest that we name it after the Minister; McLeod Highway. It's got a nice ring to it.
---Laughter
I think the department is doing some good work. I have always had a concern with the Dempster, like a lot of people who drive it. I am curious, though. I heard a couple of my colleagues mentioning the Ingraham Trail and servicing the mines. I am just curious, Mr. McLeod, if the government, or Transportation, contributes to the winter road that goes to the mines, too. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.