Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My

questions are directed to the Minister of Transportation in regards to the access road to the gravel source in Aklavik. I know there has been some great success in regards to the project in Tuk in which it has stimulated that community very successfully in hiring some 100 people this winter. I would like to know from the Minister exactly where we are in regards to the project for Aklavik to be able to access their gravel source some 20 kilometres away. I would like to get an update from the Minister on exactly where that is and what are the next steps moving forward.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The

honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. Over this past winter, there was a contract and funding for a planning study that was funded through a local company and another consultant company out of the southern part of Canada. They provided a proposal at the end of January, I believe. That is currently being reviewed. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in regards to the

department and its involvement in this project, there is a road committee established in the community

of Aklavik which had been working on this, but, more importantly, working along with the department to see about the possibility of fast tracking this program. Knowing that we are going into the capital planning process here in the next couple of months, I want to get some assurance that we will do everything we can to try to get it in there. Again, I would like to ask the Minister: With his department and the community planning committee, are there continued consultations going on between your department and the community?

Mr. Speaker, there

has been some considerable discussion between the consultants and members of the community. There has been a site visit to the gravel source and also a project initiation meeting held in February, and the work continues with a review and consideration of the proposal. We expect some type of recommendation to come forward in the latter part of June of this year. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that in order

for this project to go anywhere, the Minister will have to personally intervene. So I would like to ask the Minister: Is he willing to make a trip with myself and meet with the committee in Aklavik in regards to once this report is concluded that we can ensure that we move quickly on the next steps and try to get some activity happening in the community of Aklavik possibly this winter or late next spring? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, pending

the outcome of the report, I would be glad to have that discussion with the Member. We would probably have to fit it into my schedule and start looking at September some time for me to be able to travel to that community. However, I would be pleased to sit down and have that discussion once we have the recommendations and see any value and which way we are going to go in terms of the next steps. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your

final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t think we can

wait until September, but, if it is possible, maybe we can meet the Minister wherever he is available between now and September. If he can’t make it, we can meet with you wherever you are. Is that a possibility?

Mr. Speaker, I am

afraid to ask where the Member would like to meet. ---Laughter Mr. Speaker, the project has been moving along just fine without my personal involvement. We have a number of officials that are quite well versed in this discussion. I am sure that we would be glad to meet with the community. I would certainly not hesitate to go into the community of Aklavik. I have gone there and we have had some discussion with

this issue. Just scheduling might be a problem. I will commit to the Member to have further discussion and bring the appropriate officials or myself, if we can fit it into a schedule that would work for all of us. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Before I

go to the next Member on my list, I would like to take a moment to recognize the presence in the gallery of my son, D’arcy, and Betty Stanley, who are here to await the arrival of my next grandchild. I want to wish them both well as they go through this process. ---Applause Welcome to the Legislative Assembly. The honourable Member of the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My

question is to the Minister of Transportation in regards to the Deh Cho Bridge. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to ask the Minister if he has the latest tracking partners report in terms of the benefits that are going to the community of Fort Providence in northern and aboriginal businesses that are benefited by the construction of the Deh Cho Bridge.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The

honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. Although I know there have been quite a few people that have been employed on this project from the communities of Fort Providence, Hay River and also a number of firms in Yellowknife, I don’t have that information compiled. I am not sure how long and who would do it, but we certainly can see what this project has gathered so far and provide it to the Member and the standing committee, if that is desired. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that we

have some very good people monitoring the construction of the bridge. I would urge the Minister if he would see what steps we need to be taking to see if we can get this information to me or to the standing committee on tracking the number of benefits and employment and businesses for the Members here. I think that would be beneficial to our side in terms of seeing the types of benefits that are going to aboriginal northern businesses. Can the Minister commit to putting some information together within several months?

Mr. Speaker, we

would be pleased to see what is available. As to having it readily available, I think it would be difficult. As to how much or what level of detail we can provide is, again, something we have to talk with the developer and see what we can come up

with. Any information we can compile or has been compiled that we have available to us, we would be glad to share with the Members. Thank you.

The honourable Member for

Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To

continue my personal environment theme day, I will continue to further question the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Mr. Speaker, I was reading recently that there is a discussion that said that 18.5 million trees and over 22 billion carbon tonnes would be removed from the environment if people used the Internet instead of allowing their recurring bills to go out via the mail. In other words, if your phone bill and your power bill were sent over the Internet, you could save a lot of CO2 and certainly a lot of trees. And, of course, businesses could save a lot of money. My question is directed to the Minister as such. What type of policies is the Department of Environment and Natural Resources developing and certainly looking into to help the private sector look at this type of angle whereas in they can save money instead of sending out bills such as your power or phone bill? Certainly they can contribute in their own way in helping in cutting down their environmental waste, because a lot of people just take these things and throw them in the garbage. What is the Minister doing about creating these types of initiatives? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The

honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker,

as far as I am aware, most larger businesses have that capacity for clients and customers to pay on-line and are encouraged to do so for convenience for all parties. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I

will have the department and officials do a survey to see what the possibilities are for that type of service and what role we may be able to play, if any; keeping in mind that we have a whole list of things that we are doing. We do have limited capacity in many cases. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, although this would

be a lot easier if I was on that environment committee, but I am not,… ---Laughter …and I really wish I was. Ultimately these are issues that I am trying to raise in the sense of can we do business better. That is the type of environment I am trying to foster as well. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister think he could bring some type of discussion paper back by the fall so we could take a look at maybe helping business do better in a more efficient way? Because we know that they are struggling to do it as sharply and as smartly as possible, as well as trying to contribute in their own way to the good stewardship of the environment. So could the Minister look at a discussion paper by this fall? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker,

we’ll look at trying to address that issue through the business planning process as well. Once again, we have people taking notes. When the Climate Change Committee next meets, we’ll also ensure that we have a discussion about that particular item as well. Thank you.