Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For as long as I’ve been in Hay River, and I’m sure for many years before I got there, there have been very strong ties between what was called the Hay River Reserve, the K’atlodeeche First Nation and the town of Hay River. These two communities are located on the east and west sides of the Hay River. Mr. Speaker, there has never been a permanent link between these two communities and when there is no ice road in the wintertime, it requires the residents to travel many miles, clock many miles to travel back and forth between these communities. People from across, as we fondly refer to it, attend school, they attend church, they have family, we have families that live on both sides of the river and yet there has never been a permanent link to make the distance between these two communities more affordable and, I guess, easier to get between.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation, to his knowledge, has there ever been a study or a costing done of what it would take to put a permanent bridge between the communities of the K'atlodeeche First Nation and the town of Hay River? Thank you.