Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chair, the Member raises an issue that has been somewhat of a challenge over the years for us as a department. We’ve looked at a number of ways that we can suppress the dust on our highways. We’ve also done the same in a lot of the communities. We’ve used different methods and products over the years, calcium, of course, being the cheapest one; however, a very limited lifespan, about one year for calcium. We’ve also used EK35 on some municipal roads and we also used it on airports. It’s a product that’s fairly cheap, but the lifespan of EK35 is somewhat limited, it doesn’t stand up well to high speeds and turning vehicles. So we are kind of limited to a number of methods, one being chipseal, and we have applied the product on a lot of the southern parts of the Territories and we are starting to move forward on Highway No. 1 towards Fort Simpson.

The other products, of course the most favourable product but the most expensive is asphalt. It has a longer lifespan but is very, very costly to apply. So we are looking at new possibilities and other methods of applying dust suppressant. We are convinced it does lower our maintenance costs, but we need something that can be affordable. One product that has come forward that we are currently going to be testing is called Easy Street. It’s cheaper than paving but it’s more expensive than chipseal, and we are being told that it’s also more durable.

All these different applications of dust suppressants on the roads are, of course, based on having a really good foundation. We need to have roads that are well reconstructed with good material. That’s the case in the Member’s riding. There has been a lot of work in the last while on reconstruction. Right now, it’s still a priority that we’d like to consider and we’re looking at ways we can do a test pilot project in his riding or on one of the roads in his riding. We, of course, have to look at the cost factor and we have to look at how do we maintain it. Right now, there is no equipment in that area and that would have to be purchased. So all things have to be considered. Having said that, it’s something that

we’d like to keep in mind for the long term. Right now I think there’s 35 kilometres towards the border that we’d like to focus on for this coming year and get completed over this year and next year, but it’s not something we’ve ruled out yet. Thank you.