Thank you, Mr. Minister. At this time, I would like to ask Mr. Ramsay of the Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development with regard to the Transportation department. Thank you.

Department Of Transportation

General Comments

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee met with the Minister and his officials on September 25, 2006, to review the draft business plan of the Department of Transportation.

The committee considered the department's draft main estimates on January 16 and 17, 2007.

Committee members made note that the department is proposing to spend $88.3 million in operations expense and $47 million on capital projects in fiscal year 2007-2008.

Committee members offer the following comment on issues arising out of the review of the 2007-2008 Draft Main Estimates and budget-planning cycle:

Highway No. 3

After 23 years and $200 million, the committee is disappointed by the poor condition of Highway No. 3 between Yellowknife and Behchoko.

Highway No. 3, in certain places, is more suited to a roller coaster than regular traffic. The department states the roller coaster effect, or heaves and dips, are a result of melting permafrost in the area. Repairs have had to be made on an ongoing basis. The department has no mechanism to go back and have the repairs made under warranty because the time period has lapsed. A longer warranty would have increased the cost of the road.

Although a considerable amount of federal dollars went into completing Highway No. 3, the committee is concerned continued repairs for Highway No. 3 will drain the budgets of other highways also in much need of repair.

Recommendation

The committee recommends the department supply them with a projection of future repairs and the costs that will be required to make Highway No. 3 safe to drive. The committee would also like a report on all of the challenges encountered in building and repairing Highway No. 3.

Those are the committee's comments, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. General comments. Sorry. At this time, I would like to ask the Minister if he would like to bring in witnesses.

Yes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To my right I have deputy minister Russell Neudorf; to my left I have assistant deputy minister Daniel Auger.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. General comments. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have a few general comments before we get into the detail of the department. Again, I will start off with the subject that's high on my radar, and for my constituents in the riding of Kam Lake and in the city of Yellowknife, and that is to get the much needed access road into Kam Lake Industrial Park from Highway No. 3. I won't spend too much time on this, Mr. Chair, as I know the Minister and I have had discussions in the House as of late to the development of that road and the disposition of negotiations that are currently under way between the City of Yellowknife and the Department of Transportation. I will leave that there, but I just wanted to, while I have the chance, reiterate my support for negotiations moving forward and that road being constructed.

Public safety is the paramount concern in that, Mr. Chair. The other items that I wanted to touch on, I just wanted to back up the recommendation that the committee made, the state of Highway No. 3. It was completed just last year. Already there are noticeable dips and repairs that are required to that road. In fact, you could argue the fact about whether that road is better today than it was five years ago. I am not sure if lowering the speed limit would help, but the road and the condition it is in, if you are doing the speed limit and hit a dip on that road, it is unsafe. I think we certainly need to take a look at what it is going to cost down the road to maintain that road if, in fact, there are engineering flaws or whatever the case may be, poor construction or whatever, that needs to be seriously looked at.

I also have had discussions with the Minister in the House lately about the Ingraham Trail and the fact that the Government of the Northwest Territories has spent a

sizable amount of money, in the neighbourhood of $25 million if you go back 10 years and you look at what the monies that they are looking at spending into the next few years. That is a considerable amount of money. The Ingraham Trail is obviously home to many people who call the area home throughout the year, also cottages, lakes, parks, campgrounds. It is a well used road and highway here in Yellowknife. I guess some of the discussion goes back to the talk of connecting the communities in the Monfwi region and the Dogrib region and where a road to resources would come from. I maintain that, given the fact we have a 70-kilometre artery that we spent millions and millions of dollars on, it goes 70 kilometres northeast from Yellowknife, that road, if it does in fact at some point in time connect the communities in the Dogrib region, should come out of Yellowknife. I have asked the Minister about this in the past. When we get to the page in the detail on highways, I will ask him again. What is the government's position on where a road to resources would come from? I think that is an important first step if you are looking at accessing federal dollars which will be much needed in constructing a road like that.

I am supportive, as well, of a road down the Mackenzie Valley. I think that is a much needed and much called for road. Also the Tuk-Inuvik highway, Mr. Chair. We need to find money, too, to get that project completed.

Those are some of the highlights, Mr. Chair. I know the position growth in the department, the majority of it is a result of the situation with the ferries and the fact that positions were repatriated back to the Government of the Northwest Territories. So you can't say too much about that, but there are a couple of positions at the airport itself for the new baggage handling equipment and the conveyor system. I said this last year. I am not sure why we would need to have two dedicated individuals looking after that equipment specifically, and we couldn't have looked at contracting that service out on an as and when basis or whatever. I will leave it at that, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. General comments. Next I have Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to offer a few general comments on the Minister's opening remarks. I will save any questions I might have when we get to the pages in the detail. There are a couple of things I would like to mention. The hiring of apprentices I think is a huge move. I am a big supporter of apprentices and the fact that the government is going to bring a few on, train them within the government department. I think it is a good move and it is a good opportunity for someone to take advantage of those positions. The $47 million, I am a little curious as to this. It says the level of funding remains high due to ongoing federal infrastructure initiatives. Are they coming up with the ideas or the initiatives and we are paying for them? Are they matching the money? The way I read it, they came up with the initiatives and the territorial government continues to pay for it.

The money going into the Dempster Highway, $5 million, much needed. It is an adventure driving the highway sometimes. I've driven Highway No. 3 and I have driven Highway No. 8. I will take Highway No. 3 anytime. Highway No. 8 can get very dangerous with all the loose gravel and everything, but the more money we can put into the repair to the Dempster, upgrading it...One comment here I found kind of confusing, or maybe I will ask about it later on, is talking about the number of highways that were nearing the end of their lifecycle. I am curious to know how does a highway reach the end of its lifecycle? I know how buildings reach them. I am just curious about the highway.

As usual, I continue to be a big supporter of the Mackenzie Valley highway. I think it is something that is long overdue. I think it is something that is badly needed right down the valley. It will benefit everybody. I said it before. So I am looking to see what Transportation comes up with as far as a plan goes or how they plan to pursue the federal government. We all know that we are losing money every day to the federal government and some of that could be going towards a highway for our benefit.

Mr. Chair, those are just a couple of the general comments I have on the Minister's opening remarks. When I come to the page for it on the detail, I will have some questions for the Minister. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Next on the list I have Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to offer a few comments on the Department of Transportation, as well. First, I want to speak about the highway issue. The first one is the Mackenzie Valley highway. I want to put on record that I think that is an important project that I would like to see advanced. I think one of the surprising things that I read in the budget statement was the fact that we have not seen one single new kilometre of road built since 1988. Given how much the North has grown since then, I find that hard to believe. Also, I don't think the Mackenzie pipeline of the socio-economic agreement includes anything about highways. I don't really know why that sort of thing would not be in there if we can't leverage resource revenue sharing or something like that into such an agreement, because it is such a larger project and it is dealing with other processes, but one would think...I think the proposal has been made that in order to build the highway, they are going to need access to it. I would think that Cece McCauley will tell you that would be the right time to build a road at the same time. I don't think the federal government will come and tell us, okay, we want the pipeline, so we will build your road. You have to ask and fight for every one of those, so maybe there is some inkling of hope in the agreement. I do not know, but I think it is one thing we have to work on and I am in full support of. In saying that, I want to say that it may be hard to believe.

I don't think I have been here that long. This is my seventh year. I was constantly asking questions about Highway No. 3 when I first got elected. In fact, my first newsletter was like a newspaper size and it had a double side of the whole issue on Highway No. 3. The title was something like, Winding, Crooked Road or something and it had a picture of Highway No. 3. I just want to say that I remember, and I am old enough to remember. I have been here long enough to remember what that Highway No. 3 was like between Behchoko and Yellowknife.

I really want to commend the department for the work that has been done to finish that. It really is a beautiful road. I guess the better part of Highway No. 3 is between Providence and Behchoko. I think because of the topography or the ease of the weight, the land is set up, it is just a smoother road. It is a wider road. It is a beautiful

road, but from Behchoko to Yellowknife, I know my friends in Behchoko may not agree with this, but I think there's been so much more improvement there than we have ever had. I drove there most recently in December. I did see some rough parts. There were some soft areas, but you have to slow down. Honestly. I drove through Ontario one time and if you combine all the roads under construction, it would combine to at least 1,000 kilometres, because there was so much construction in every place. Once you build a road, there are some parts always under construction. I know that I do my share of pounding the table here asking for things, but I do want to take a moment to really appreciate the work the government has done on Highway No. 3.

For years, that highway took a huge chunk of highway budget. My argument was always once we finish this, we should have more money to build other roads. So I would like to think that having completed that has provided room for other areas of roads. I think that everybody should just slow down and protect that road that we spent I think 25 years and at least $100 million to build.

The second thing is the Kam Lake access road. It is something that we really need to work on. I do understand that it is within municipal boundaries for the most part and it will probably have to cross claimed area or designated area. I just don't think it is fair for the truck drivers or for the residents in the current space that it is now. I forget about the truck traffic until the winter roads start up and when you are trying to rush to work, you are surrounded by the trucks. I don't mind that because every time I see the trucks, I see money. It is our diamond industry. They could have thousands of trucks here if they want. I just need to slow down. I think there is a tolerance level and safety issues if these trucks keep going through town. Pretty soon that Old Airport Road will not be able to handle that. So I would really urge the Minister and the government to work with all of the other partners or aboriginal governments and the City of Yellowknife to see if we could work on an arrangement on that. I would love to see a truck stop where all of these trucks could come and fuel and rest before they go on the ice road. That is an important part.

With respect to the road to resources, the Minister made a statement earlier today that there will be a study done to see the feasibility of having roads built in Tlicho. I am waiting to see what will come out of that. I don't know what the details of that are. Any study or something like that would have to, and I would want to ask the Minister to make sure that there is a cost-benefit analysis to where the best road to resources should be at and the fact that there are existing road systems. I think industries have a lot of say in that because they are already spending a lot of money to transport the fuel and other supplies that they need. I think they are thinking about doing an all-weather road in some of the soft areas so that you could extend the ice road. I guess the earth part warms up faster than the lake and so if you could have an all-weather system into some of the more vulnerable spots, you could extend the road. I think the way they figured it out so cleverly, as the private market always does when they are under pressure, they have built the secondary road to withstand the demands of supplies more. I think the department will do well to work closely with the industry and our friends and partners in the Tlicho area to see a real cost-benefit analysis. Maybe there could be a loop, but the bottom line is we only have limited resources for roads. I know there are a lot of needs all over the North. We need to make all of the communities accessible. I would like the study to keep in mind where the money can be best spent. Also, we need to support the industry as well, because they are here creating a lot of benefits for us. I would like to leave it at that. I will be watching closely at that study to see the extent that a cost-benefit analysis is being done, not just in this area but how to best spend the government money.

The last thing I want to mention is the airport. I am not familiar enough on where the department is at in terms of just listening to the Minister's opening statement, but there has been an ongoing issue about extending a runway in Yellowknife to allow some of the bigger aircrafts to come in. I don't think that is a Yellowknife issue. I don't think that should be looked at as a Yellowknife issue. The fact is, Yellowknife Airport is the biggest airport in the Territories. It has the most traffic. When we were in communities like Wekweeti or other communities surrounding this area, there are a lot of tourism possibilities for these communities if they could be given a little bit of help. Because we are located geographically more conveniently than even northern parts of the States, to be the gateway from Asia and the other side of the world, they could land in Yellowknife and go to the rest of North America. If that is the case and we get more people coming through this way, they will spend less time. The visitors from Japan, if they have in their limited time, or Germany...from Europe and Asia, they could all come here as a one-stop to Yellowknife, there is a much more of a chance that they would be able to go to other communities here, but if it takes them two days to get to Yellowknife, you know they are going to spend two days in Yellowknife and go back. But if they could get here in 8, 10 or 12 hours, I see such potential for our surrounding communities in Yellowknife to be at the centre of that eco-tourism. There is so much for us to offer. I would also like the government to look at extension of the Yellowknife Airport runway as something that would be beneficial to all of the North, the tourism industry, oil and gas, pipeline, when they are coming. Why can we not be the real gateway and take that title away from Edmonton or even from Chicago? We could do that. I don't think it is going to cost a whole lot of money either. I welcome the Minister to make any replies to that. Those are my opening comments. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Next on the list for general comments, I have Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have brief comments in regards to this particular budget. I would like to, as well, go on record indicating that I fully support the extension of the Mackenzie Valley highway up to Inuvik and on to Tuk, preferably as part of the pipeline project that hopefully the Conservative federal government will kick into as a way to have a legacy project that will open up the North.

I also would like to go on record, once again, to restate my interest and support for the idea of a road through the Tlicho that will connect all of the communities as well as forge on ahead up to the mines as a long-range, good way to open up this part of the country and to take an enormous amount of traffic out of through Yellowknife and up through the current route. Of course, I, like the government, wait eagerly for the potential new funding or possible new funding extensions for further infrastructure development and, of course, I have particularly in mind the building to, once and for all, finally finish the

chipsealing of Highway No. 5 and 6, 5 being in the Fort Smith, 6 being in the Fort Resolution.

Finally, Mr. Chair, I, as well, would like to commend Transportation for investing in apprentices. They are in desperately short supply. I think their projection was over a million apprentices short over the next 10 years across all different trades. The government used to be a major supplier of apprentices and they got out of that, and where it makes good sense I think we should be getting back into that. So this is a good idea, in my opinion. Those are my comments, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. We've got Mr. Pokiak next for general comments.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A few quick comments with regard to Transportation. I think it's very well known that since 1978 we've been talking about the Tuk-Inuvik highway. We're now in 2007 and we're still talking about it. You know, there's been a lot of money spent on the Ingraham Trail, or since I've been here for the last three years anyway. It seems like all of that money is being spent in the southern part of the territory. It always seems like the northern part is being left out in a lot of the project that can happen. Unfortunately, I understand the reason why and the people back home understand the reason why, because mainly we're looking at federal funding for new highways. Again, like I said, I've been here three years already. We've always been told first there was Corridors for Canada I, then they were talking Corridors for Canada II, now we're talking about Connecting Canada: Coast to Coast to Coast. To me, Mr. Chairman, I think it's mostly just talk. There's no action coming from the federal government. I respect the Minister presently, right now, and the previous Minister in Transportation, to really try to get funding for the Tuk-Inuvik highway, and we're only talking 80 kilometres basically. I think maybe $70 million, but again, that would be good money invested because you will make economic benefits to the people back home, you will employ people, people will pay taxes. So eventually the road will be built.

Also, Mr. Chairman, gravel source 177 is only 22 kilometres from the community of Tuktoyaktuk, and I'll bring it up again. That's gravel that the community really needs in order so that we expand infrastructure in the community. I don't know how much more the Minister can do, or the department, in trying to address this problem with the federal government. I think what we need to do now is just make sure that hopefully the Conservatives can put that in their upcoming budget that's supposed to come out on March 19th I think. I hope that they can do something with the resources and the infrastructure that we have up here, because I think it's important.

Mr. Chairman, it's also good to see that the Minister has identified seven apprentices in his department. I think they've done that in the past, years ago with the government. They always seem to have apprentices in their department and I think it's one step that we can get people online here for the potential Mackenzie gas pipeline.

Another area, Mr. Chairman, is I'd like to speak a little more in regard to the marine services. Tuk is well known, like Hay River is well known, for the NTCL terminal buildings. The federal government is talking right now about Canadian sovereignty and I think we should really press the federal government for infrastructure, and again, I'll bring it up, I think Tuk has good infrastructure for that. It's right in the Beaufort Sea. I guess the Canadian Army can utilize one of the camps and I always talk about the camps in Tuk, utilize that as a base. The infrastructure is there. That port is deep enough for their vessels to come in there and I think that it would be a good investment. It will not only help the residents in the Beaufort Sea, but you'd have access right from the west coast all the way down to the east coast. So I think that's a good investment that should be considered.

Another area of importance that the people in Tuk are talking about is in regard to the airport itself. It's a 5,000-foot airport. Right now they're maintaining it and they'd like to keep it maintained to the present level because I guarantee you if that pipeline goes through, industry will utilize Tuk and Inuvik as a base for operations for their personnel. I've seen it happening in the '70s; I've seen it happen when Dome Petroleum was operating, when Gulf...(inaudible)...was operating. They basically bypassed maybe even Inuvik at that time because they could land 737s. So that's another area of interest I'd like to make sure the government continue to pursue.

I just have a quick comment, Mr. Chairman, or a few more here. It's good to see that the department, I was looking at and like the chair earlier indicated that 23 new positions, but again there's a reason behind that because we know that. I think the question I have is the Minister indicated about four highway equipment operators, mainly because of the level of activity for the winter road, but again, do they still require those people after the winter road shuts down and where do those people go? That's another area for consideration.

Again, Mr. Chairman, I'd just like to say once again that again they've invested another $2 million for the Mackenzie Highway and Ingraham Trail. Again, it's disappointing for me and my constituents that you see all this money being spent in the southern part of the territory and nothing really for the northern part, and $13 million for the...(inaudible)...program on the Mackenzie Valley, which I understand the reason why it's being done again.

Just in regard to the bridge repairs, Mr. Chairman, I'd like the Minister to consider, I understand the hamlet of Ulukhaktok are looking at replacing the present bridge from the airport to the community. I think they should consider that, because I became aware of that just recently. I think that's just the general comments I have for now, Mr. Chairman. I will have questions once we get into the details. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Next on the list I've got Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just in terms of general comments on Transportation, I can only think of one particularly pressing issue as it relates to the community of Hay River. Hay River is a lovely little town on the south shore of Great Slave Lake. A river runs through it; a rail line runs through it; and a road runs through it, which would be particularly of interest to Mr. Menicoche because that is his road. The Mackenzie Highway runs right through Hay River and right to the West Channel.

With the activity, the shipping, the transporting of goods to the mines, that road is very well utilized at this time of year. I guess somewhat similarly to Yellowknife, it seems the trucks have to come right into Yellowknife as well on Old Airport Road, about one a minute it seems. I was going to the airport last Friday and I was just trying to turn there to go to the airport and they were just one truck right after another after another. Well, Hay River is where the fuel is getting loaded into those trucks. So those same trucks that are pulling into Yellowknife are starting off a lot of them in Hay River and so we have those big trucks rolling down the Mackenzie Highway right through town to the Old Town where they load up with the fuel to come to Yellowknife for the mines. So the highway, as the Minister probably well knows, is not very wide, doesn't have turning lanes on it, it probably doesn't have exactly the right kind of slope for some of the curves that are on it and there are some important turnoffs on that highway, notably the airport for one thing that has a lot of traffic coming and going from it as well. So in the socio-economic agreement on the pipeline, the agreement talks about industry dealing with municipalities directly in terms of the use of infrastructure or water and sewer services et cetera, but I somehow am not thinking that the Mackenzie gas project proponents are going to want to build or widen the highway through Hay River in order to get to the barge facilities, the shipyards, potentially the fuel tank farms, all those sorts of things.

So I don't know what it would take to get the capital identified for enhancements to that Mackenzie Highway that runs through Hay River; but might I suggest that if the pipeline does go, that is going to be a very immediate and serious problem that will be staring somebody in the face. Like I said, I kind of doubt if industry is going to want to pick up the full price of it, and I certainly know the taxpayers of Hay River are not going to want to pick up the price tag for it and it is a GNWT road. So later on when we get into the detail, or right now, for that matter, if the Minister wants to respond, I'd like to ask the Minister if there's anything in the works that could address the highway in Hay River?

A lot of the other areas to do with transportation infrastructure have been already covered by MLAs representing different regions of the Northwest Territories here. I guess we're not all just confined to only drive on the roads that are in our own constituencies, so we get to observe some of the issues. Lately I haven't been driving on Highway No. 3 because I'm afraid of the buffalo and now I'm afraid of the transport trucks, but I am going to drive home tomorrow night and I'll give the Minister a full report when I get back on how the road is looking in terms of maintenance and shifting and heaving and all that sort of thing. But I'm mostly interested in that road that runs through Hay River and what the Department of Transportation could potentially bring to the table to help us address that problem. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Just to be fair to other committee members, I'm going to go to Mr. Braden for general comments and then we can get to the questions throughout the detail. Thank you, committee. Mr. Braden.

Thanks, Mr. Chairman. A couple of points. In sort of the vision stuff, the legacy stuff that we talk about and I think we need to keep reminding ourselves about, Mr. Chairman, we have the ongoing legacy of the diamond mines in the south and the south eastern portion of the territory, Mr. Chairman. Then, of course, there's the pipeline, which will extend from north to south along the valley and in the west. We've already talked about the potential of completion of the Mackenzie Valley highway as a legacy of the Mackenzie pipeline. Certainly, some of the legacy expectations of the diamond mines we have sort of yet to see fulfilled, Mr. Chairman. One of those being the long sought after Deh Cho Bridge, which if it's going to be constructed and paid for, Mr. Chairman, at least in part by toll fees, then with every day and every week and every month that we don't have the Deh Cho Bridge built, we're also losing the revenue from the trucks that go back and forth to supply the diamond mines. So there's a legacy project there, and there's also been discussion of other transportation legacies potentially to the Tlicho communities. The Minister just spoke to us earlier today about studies that are underway to see how Tlicho communities could potentially be linked by road, and it is very much spurred by the economic activity that the diamond mines are providing.

More immediate and more direct, Mr. Chairman, is the need for more certainty for the direct supply route to the diamond mines. We suffered a nearly disastrous season last year. Some people would call it a disastrous season last year, Mr. Chairman, because I think there was perhaps two-thirds of the projected loads that made it to site. It caused an enormous consequence on the air side where suppliers and transporters brought in heavy lift aircraft; another, I'm told, $100 million was expended to continue the operation of the diamond mines because of the shortcomings of the winter ice road. Mr. Chairman, if there should be a priority, I believe, for highway or road infrastructure that truly has a return to our economy, and, indeed, I think we'd have very willing partners to come in to help shoulder the cost, it is to find a way to have more certainty and an extended season of supply into the diamond mines. I'm not talking about a full year or full-season road all the way up to the mines. My understanding, Mr. Chairman, is that if we essentially look at getting improved conditions up to Gordon Lake or up to basically where the treeline stops and the Barren Lands take over, that we will be avoiding the critical and weakest areas of that winter supply line and even here, Mr. Chairman, as we've done already in the Mackenzie Valley, it may be as straightforward as installing some better portages, some bridges over some of the stream crossings, or finding our way around some of the troublesome lakes. This, I would suggest, is the place we should be looking at soonest because it has the most immediate impact on our economy and the certainty to those areas.

I think, though, linked to that, Mr. Chairman, is also a notion that the department has a responsibility to help provide transportation; secure, reliable, safe transportation, but that need not only be in the shape of airports and roads. Mr. Chairman, and I'm going to go back to the diamond mines, there's a couple of very innovative alternatives out there to flying bulk materials to the diamond mines or, for that matter, to any remote location. One of them is a proposal by a company that says that small diameter pipelines constructed across the tundra, laid underneath lakes, is technology that has been proven around the world for decades now and could indeed be a very viable way for us to supply fuels, both liquid and gas, to northern communities and the diamond mines. Think, Mr. Chairman, of the reduction that this would bring about in environmental costs, the cost of

burning...Ten thousand truckloads are projected to go up to the mines this winter, and I think it's about 2,500 of them could potentially be shaved off if fuels could be piped to the site rather than trucked. That's a lot of diesel fuel; it's a lot of environmental exposure to potential breakthroughs, if a truck were to break through the ice.

Another potential alternate is air ships. I believe there is some kind of a test project somewhere in the NWT, was it last summer? I'm not getting any nods here, so maybe I was reading the wrong comic book, but these have got enormous potential. We don't need airstrips, we don't need runways, but we do need, perhaps, a sense of risk taking, if you will, and an ability and a willingness to experiment and try new things. This is all, Mr. Chairman, in the sense of creating more secure supply at less cost to the environment and potentially even reduce the cost of the product actually delivered to site. I would encourage the Department of Transportation, Mr. Chairman -- I think this is my message -- let's not just think about roads and airstrips and ferries, let's think about assisting in transporting goods by whatever means and join in that in the spirit of thinking outside the box sometimes.

Mr. Chairman, there's one other item and it's closer to my constituency here in Yellowknife, and those are reports that were carried in the media early this year about the approval of a major infrastructure project to the Yellowknife Airport. It's something that's long been discussed, bringing water and sewer services to the last few hundred metres of Old Airport Road and into all the buildings in the airport precinct itself. A very desirable project that would do this city and the airport a lot of good; however, Mr. Chairman, this is a very expensive project, I understand in the neighbourhood of potentially $20 million. It was not one that I, as a Yellowknife MLA, had seen approval for before it was discussed in the media. I know that it had been long and loudly discussed in business plans and in ideas and infrastructure projects that could be undertaken. I recognize and acknowledge that, but there comes a time when if there is actually going to be commitment and approval of taxpayers' money, especially of that magnitude, then it is one of the expectations of our consensus system that MLAs and, I think, other officials would be involved in that decision. We weren't, and I would be looking at the appropriate time for perhaps a bit of an explanation of how that decision came about and where we're going with it. Again, I don't want to dismiss the project outright because it does have tremendous value, but given tight fiscal times and competition for other infrastructure projects, we skipped a beat in the approvals and it's something that I would just like to bring back to the attention of the department and the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.