Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister of Transportation. Last week, I indicated that I was in the Sahtu in a regional conference. One of the elders from Fort Good Hope said that the road is so good up in the Sahtu, it is beyond the gold road now. It is scary there. I want to thank the Minister and the Premier for the work. The elder said that he can put his coffee cup on the dashboard now and not spill the cup. I want to ask the Minister for an update in terms of the winter road in the Sahtu in terms of the bridge work that is going to be put into various creeks to conclude the bridge work of that road. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is always good to get a compliment on some of the work and initiatives we have done in the different areas of the North. We have certainly put a lot of effort in the Sahtu. We have been working this year, I think, in the Sahtu region. We are working on two fairly large projects in terms of bridging. Big Smith and Little Smith creeks, those will be going ahead. We started doing some of the initial work this past year. We will continue to do that. The cost factor is a concern. Our prices are coming in fairly high. We are looking at ways that we can accommodate the needs for some additional investment to deal with that.

On the ice roads and the winter roads, I believe all of our winter roads and ice roads are now at the maximum level. So we are quite happy that we are able to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to say this on behalf of the people, that they wanted to congratulate Minister McLeod and other people who made it happen that we happen to have a very excellent road this winter here. In terms of the bridge, I know that costs and factors are high. That is why I want to ask the Minister in terms of doing business in the Sahtu. It is certainly different in the south here. We have to pay the Sahtu prices for doing business there. I want to ask the Minister, what types of plans are in place for his department to stay in the Sahtu prices, because otherwise business would be leaving to look for work elsewhere in terms of finishing up the bridge. I want to ask if he would give special consideration to the local workers up in our region in terms of winter road work. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we always give first consideration to the local companies in the area. We have done so with the Sahtu contractors. We have also had, actually, several sit-down meetings with a number of the companies. We will continue to do so. The requirement for additional investment is, of course, a concern. We will not be looking at going outside of the region, or we will probably look at a process that will allow us to have northern bidders or an RFP, for that matter. As to additional

dollars, we may have to look at moving dollars from another project or another region. I am not sure how we are going to accommodate it at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the ice roads are a concern this year in the Sahtu. I know that Mr. Minister had indicated some time in the past about a bridge at the Bear River. I want to ask the Minister for an update on that progress. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, the work continues to go ahead on the Bear River bridge. We did some early design work. We have done some early scoping and costing of the area. We have also had several meetings with the community to talk about the actual location of where this bridge can be accommodated. These meetings were very well attended. There was some good discussion. We feel that we are quite comfortable, along with the community, as to the actual site of the bridge. We have hired a company to do some pricing on this project. Some early costing has shown that this bridge will more than likely come at a high price tag, a lot higher than what was earlier budgeted for, so we are looking at different options of how we can deal with this bridge, including looking at buying a bridge that was from the South. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Time for oral questions has expired. Before we go on to the next order of the day, the Chair is going to call a short break.

---SHORT RECESS

I'll call the House back to order. Orders of the day. Written questions. The honourable Minister from the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a written question to the Minister of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

1. What is the latest assessment of core need of housing in the Sahtu?
2. What types of NWTHC programs are committed solely to the elders/seniors?
3. Who in the Sahtu region have taken up the manufactured homes since they were brought in?
4. When will the NWTHC begin regional discussions with our region on the concept of Novel manufactured homes?
5. How many homes did NWTHC sell to community members and what programs were used to assist them?
6. What plans are in place to design new, affordable, efficient-heating homes?

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Written questions. Replies to the opening address. Replies to the budget address. Honourable Member from Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Mr. Speaker, I seek the House's permission to return to item 7, written questions.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to return to item 7, written questions. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Return to item 7, Mr. Villeneuve.

Mahsi, Members. I have a written question for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

1. Is there a 24-hour suicide helpline available for all communities in the NWT?
2. Are professionals available on a 24-hour basis for people who are suffering from mental illness or severe depression? Are doctors available to answer these distress calls?
3. Do people in our remote communities, who cannot and will not discuss their mental problems with their community health workers or use the helpline, have other options available that the Department of Health and Social Services can offer?
4. If so, is there any information or regular communication being delivered to the remote communities about these programs and suicide prevention in general?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Written questions. Replies to the budget address. Petitions. Reports of standing and special committees. The honourable Member from Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that the report of the 2006-2007 Pre-Budget Review Process of the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight be deemed and read and printed in Hansard in its entirety. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Motion is on the floor. Motion is in order.

All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion is carried.

---Carried