I think this government does have to do a better job of maintenance and dealing with the hazards that are put in front of our travelling public. I think we do have to realize that we have to take some responsibility for that. In cost reduction efforts and whatnot we sometimes sort of forget that public safety is supposed to be paramount. But when you start having three or four people taking buckets of gravel and filling in potholes on a highway because the government is trying to think they’re going to save money, to me that’s not proper maintenance, especially with the condition of the Dempster Highway in the last number of years.
We had previous commitments last spring to see an improvement in the highways. Again, this year has been nothing but complaints when talking to people driving the Dempster. More importantly, read the logs in regard to the visitors’ centre, and you can see exactly what the tourist traffic are saying.
So again I’d like to ask the Minister in regard to this issue about liability associated with the travelling public…. I know that this government has to take some responsibility in regard to those reductions by way of maintenance, in which we are causing damages to individuals’ vehicles because of the conditions of the roads. Have you looked at this whole area of compensation or in regard to insurance? What are we doing by way of risk management to focus on that specific area? I know that people have insurance and whatnot, but again, the insurance usually only covers the PL/PD on a vehicle, so what is the government doing to ensure that?