Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m assuming when he says solutions, he’s talking about new investment in the runways to extend them. That’s the challenge at this point. There are a couple of things that we haven’t formally been able to analyze that is the actual cost and how we would find the resources to invest in the capital portion of extending the runway. We also need to clarify what it would entail in terms of additional resources or additional operations and maintenance dollars for a runway that exceeds 4,000 feet. That is something that we’re compiling right now and we’d be glad to share it with communities.

I don’t think we’re at a point where we have enough information and we’re convinced that we’re going to get support from our colleagues to include the dollars for an extension in those two communities. The challenges, the new federal regulations that require demonstrated ability to start or take off from a certain length runway and to stop, there are two types of aircraft that are really needing to have certification. That means they have to be able to demonstrate that in a test flight. That’s the twin otter and Beech 99. We’ve gone as far as to contact a couple companies that can provide that information. We’re waiting to hear back. Providing that the response is positive, we may be able to continue with the current operation levels, the current flights that go into these communities with the aircraft that service them. That’s our hope that will resolve the issue.

The people in the Sahtu certainly want to continue flying around in Twin Otters and Beach 99s and small aircraft all their lives. What we’re asking is working with the Minister here in terms of they have done their homework, they have contacted the various airlines in terms of

the required aircraft that could meet or exceed the safety standards. The best fit right now for the people in the Sahtu is the Beach 1900. I guess I would ask the Minister and the colleagues here, when you look at the need here in the Sahtu, the people...I have to fly in those small aircraft around the region. Same with my people. We can look at it. We have a good fit here. I guess I’m looking at where in the government we can work in terms of saying we can get the extra 500 feet in Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake so we can meet the safety standards of the people in the Sahtu region where there’s the most need. So I ask the Minister here in terms of looking at the extension here, if he could pull out all the stops and see how we can get the 500 feet of runway in terms of making this a go in the Sahtu. My people need the extension.

The Member’s constituents need the extension to buy a certain type of aircraft. There are other communities that need airports. I have to be able to balance the investment. At this point we’re advising the company that’s requesting it to look at a different type of aircraft that can fly larger planes into the area that have certification that demonstrate they can start and stop on that length of runway. We just extended two runways in the Member’s riding. There is a Fairchild Metroliner. There is a Dornier 228. There is a Dash-8. All of these planes can land. We have to have more discussion. We would have to be convinced that there is a way we can resource it.

Mr. Speaker, we committed several times already to meet with the community representatives as they come to the Native Conference. There are other people that will be involved. For example, the federal government will sit at these discussions. We can explore it and have more discussions in detail. I am expecting we should have some of our findings as to what it would cost to build and operate. It is going to be a very big challenge, I think, to commit to the Member today, without any of the backup information, to say yes or to anything additional in the area of capital. We need a very strong business case. I don’t have that yet. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister is correct. We, at this time, don’t have a strong business case for the government. Mr. Speaker, the runways that we are asking for in Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake are going to provide safety for our people in Fort Good Hope and Deline. We are not on an all-weather road like some of the communities, so we have to look at our priorities. There are some communities that do need it. Some communities in my region certainly have an increase in aircraft, the oil and gas activity and the

mining. Mr. Speaker, yes, we did look at the Dash-8 in the community. It will cost $10 million for the community to build a hangar. It is 37 passengers. I don’t see a Dash-8 going into Gameti, Wekweeti or any other communities around here to look at a scheduled service for small aircraft. I think we have to be somewhat realistic and look at the needs of the Sahtu that have been so long ignored or forgotten in terms of bringing up our standards here.

A thousand feet of runway that we have in Fort Good Hope and in Tulita are appreciated but we are looking at seeing if we can get 500 extra feet on Good Hope and Deline to bring in a Beech 99 that could help the community. If we could do that, Mr. Speaker, I think we can go a long way with the Minister. Again, I would ask the Minister to keep an open mind when we come together on some discussions. There is money out there. Would the Minister again inform his staff that we have for those communities, with the people in Deline, Fort Good Hope and North-Wright Aviation to look at solutions for the runways?

Mr. Speaker, we are not preventing the Member’s constituents from buying any type of aircraft. That is up to them. They can buy any kind of aircraft they want. They would still need to build a hangar. The hangar is not the issue in this case. Mr. Speaker, it is unfair for the Member to say we are neglecting his constituents. We are just in the process of extending two runways in his riding. We just redid the Norman Wells Airport. We are proposing a $13 million airport relocation in his riding. Mr. Speaker, the issue of runway is something that we need to address. We need more information. I will continue to work with the Member on it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.