Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe that is done every, roughly, 10 years and we have had some success with that application.

It’s also used, I’ll mention this, that compound EK35 has also been used in the community, I believe, of Tulita. They had used that to put it down in the community of Tulita to supress the dust and it does work. They were happy with that application. We’ve had success with it at runways around the territory.

Thanks again for those comments. I guess just for my own education here, how many gravel strips, community airport strips do we have? Is that information easily available?

It would be 27 total. Six would be paved and the remainder would be gravelled, 21 gravelled.

That’s all. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Moving on with questions I have Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to ask the Minister if the airport division has done some analysis or projections regarding the Sahtu oil and gas early exploration activity in and around Norman Wells and Tulita. I met with the Deline Charter Community last week and they were asking, because of the increase in that airport facility they are starting to see more and more activity with passengers and freight, and they were asking if the department would consider, in its capital plans, to expand the airport terminal in Deline.

Also, if the Minister could help me out with types of analysis that his department is taking in regard to the oil and gas activity that’s going to happen this winter in Norman Wells and Tulita, and also in the future with Fort Good Hope. I just received the award bids for that community in that area. Basically, it’s the Sahtu-wide infrastructure on transportation – marine, airport and roads – so I’ll be asking the Minister these questions throughout this process here. But I want to know about the airports in our region.

I also want to take the time to say thank you to the Minister and the government for working very well with the community of Colville Lake in their construction of the new airport. It was a job well done. It was top notch. The Minister and his staff need to be commended on this work here. There are very rare times that we commend the government on good work from time to time, however, when the Minister is up there with his staff members that the people up in Colville Lake were very happy that they were allowed to expand their capabilities and skills to prove that the small community in Colville Lake could build a $13 million airport. I want to just thank the Minister for that job that was well done by everybody that was involved.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the Member for his comments. It was certainly a pleasure to be in Colville Lake and open the Tommy Kochon Airport there in the community about two weeks ago with the Member. We’re happy to do that.

We are watching closely, as development occurs in the Sahtu and exploration continues, what the impact is going to be on transportation infrastructure in the Sahtu. I know the Member’s comments in this regard were airports. The region is served by a regional airport in Norman Wells. Last winter landings and take-offs increased threefold. We expect that trend will continue this coming winter, and probably be even twice as much as it was last winter. We’re keeping a watchful eye on that.

When it comes to a community like Deline, if exploration continues and Deline becomes a place of activity and there’s more of a requirement there, the runway length in Deline is certainly something the government would consider if that happens.

We did a runway study back in 2007 which resulted in a couple of extensions in the Sahtu. One in Tulita and the other in Fort Good Hope. We worked with the community of Fort Good Hope to extend their runway, as well, an extra 500 feet. We’re anxious to again improve transportation infrastructure in the Sahtu when it comes to airports, and hopefully at some point in time that will include all-season roads as well.

The runway extension in Deline, maybe the Minister could help me here with explaining the new Transportation rules on take-off and landing with the type of aircraft that is used in the Sahtu, primarily by NorthWright Aviation. Deline is in partnership with NorthWright and they are stating that with the new Transportation ruling coming in, that they’re only allowed a certain amount of weight and passengers on their aircraft that could safely fall within the guidelines for taking off and landing. Maybe the Minister could help me understand this, that this is why they are asking for a partnership, if they could look at a situation where the community or land corp and the Transportation department can extend their runway so that they can fly in freight and more passengers, rather than limit their capabilities to a number that they have to abide by under Transportation Canada. Is that something the Minister is willing to look at with the community? I could possibly be wrong here, so I want to ask the Minister if he could help me understand how it would help the community of Deline with their initial proposal to extend their runway to a length that would be more economically beneficial for them on passengers and freight.

At the same time, they would want to look at their airport terminal, which is getting quite crowded now

with the number of passengers coming in through Deline, and that terminal is pretty cramped when you get a lot of people into one spot at a given time when an aircraft is coming in or taking off. That’s what I would like to look for in the Minister’s reply back to this runway situation. It is causing some hiccups with the community. Thank you.

I appreciate the Member’s concern about the runway length in a community like Deline. As he’s referenced, the runway in Deline is almost 4,000 feet. I know when I was on the Regular Members’ side, the Member had brought this concern up a number of times in committee and in the House. Since I became Minister a year ago, I haven’t received a formal proposal from the airline or the community. I’d be more than happy to try to work, like we did in Fort Good Hope, to try to come up with a solution if an extension is required in Deline, to try to find a way to work toward that. But, again, I haven’t received a formal proposal or anything of that nature from the airline or the community, but certainly, it’s something we’d be willing to look at should that happen.

I will relay the comments of the Minister to the community of Deline and I look forward to working with the Minister throughout this Assembly to see what possibilities are out with the extension of the runway. I’ll take it as that.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Reminding Members, we’re on 9-4, Transportation, activity summary, airports, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $1.5 million. Does committee agree?

Thank you. Moving on to 9-7, Transportation. Actually, 9-7 includes 9-8, Transportation, activity summary, marine, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $450,000. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to ask the Minister, my line of questions again are around the Sahtu and the exploration activities that are happening this year and…(inaudible)…well, for a long time. I want to ask the Minister on the transportation support that the community is going to be needing in the future, and again ask for, I guess, a comprehensive analysis of all the transportation to support the infrastructure, again, happening in the Sahtu. I want to ask about the marine and if there’s any thought of his department considering moving a marine ferry up into that area to support the activity in Norman Wells or Tulita.

Again, I had my meeting last week, a couple weeks ago with the leadership from Deline, and they talked about the climate change and the freezing of

the Great Bear Lake and how thin that ice is being frozen every year. They asked the question of would the department consider putting a ferry at Great Bear Lake. These are some of the things that are happening in my region.

There are two points that I want to ask the Minister. First is if he foresees a possibility of once the Deh Cho Bridge is open and used, you know, they’ve got an extra ferry in the yard here. Is that something that the department would consider to support the oil and gas activity in and around the Sahtu, for having a ferry up in our area? Would he consider looking at Deline’s request for a ferry at Great Bear Lake? I mean, that’s a pretty far out idea; however, we’re actually at the point where they need to look at things like this in the future because of the climate change.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister Ramsay.

I thank the Member for his questions. Certainly, the Sahtu holds much promise from an economic standpoint, and there’s going to be, again this winter, a tremendous amount of exploration in the area. We’ve had some preliminary discussions with industry on how we can work together. First off, we are, again, looking at partnering with industry on the maintenance and enhancement of the winter roads in the region so that heavier loads can be brought in, so that they can be opened earlier and last a little bit longer. That will be beneficial to residents as well as industry in the Sahtu.

As far as the utilization of a ferry in the Sahtu, we would have to look at the possibility of an all-weather road being constructed from Norman Wells south to Wrigley, and it’s not out of the realm of possibilities, given the potential of the Sahtu and the amount of oil that’s in the ground there. As the resource is proven up and if it does get into commercial production, that is something, I think, that certainly could happen. If we don’t have the $70 million to build a bridge across the Bear River, a ferry would have to be put into service at the Bear.

There are possibilities. I think the possibilities are endless when you look at the Sahtu and the opportunities that are there. We’re going to continue to work with industry, continue to move things along, and when it comes to road, marine, winter roads, airports, we’re watching quite closely what is happening in the Sahtu and we’ll be ready when we need to be, and making the decisions we need to, to ensure that we’re maximizing those opportunities. I believe by working with industry and working with the communities in the Sahtu, we’ll be able to do that.

The activities in the Sahtu could greatly improve the economic base in the Northwest Territories. If they are right, the

geologists, the ones I talked about, are right on the amount of reserves that are in the Sahtu, and the exploratory companies now want to go into developing it further and go into production. This is what I’m looking forward to the Minister’s responses to the impacts that could support the Sahtu infrastructure. Right now, because we don’t see too much, we are seeing, what, two, three, $300 million being spent in the Sahtu? We’re talking billions here. That’s quite wild right now because of just what we think could be there.

I’m asking for the Minister’s analysis or projection in the infrastructure that could happen up in the Sahtu. Are we ready for it? Are we ready to support what possibly could be happening in that region in the next two or three years in regard to the infrastructure? We could be the driving force of the economy in the Northwest Territories. I would be so happy, that in the Sahtu, if we go through our procedure properly and we handle it properly, we wouldn’t need so much support from the GNWT. We could be in that position if we play our cards right. The Sahtu could actually be in a position where it could not need the GNWT as much as we need them right now today, but we don’t know. That’s why I want to ask the Minister in regard to the marine. We may not have seen much right now, as I said. When will the Minister have an analysis of the infrastructure plan or strategy to present to committee here in regard to the potential impacts that could happen in the Sahtu in regard to transportation?

Mr. Chair, in the short term I believe we are ready. In the long term, and that is when we look at the development, commercialization, production perhaps going on in the Sahtu, that we are going to be looking at things like the Mackenzie Valley Highway, fibre optic link, the Mackenzie Gas Project, the possibility of another oil pipeline south of Norman Wells. These are all things that are going to be a part of the equation when it comes to the development in the Sahtu.

Certainly, we need to find more money. The Department of Transportation is not alone. When I say that, I was recently at the federal Ministers’ meetings on transportation where the federal Minister has said a new program is in the works. Hopefully, we will see a new infrastructure program in this country that the Northwest Territories can take advantage of so that we can address the infrastructure needs across the territory. It is something that we have taken advantage of in the past through other programs like the Building Canada Plan. Those have gotten things done here in the Northwest Territories.

We need another infrastructure plan, in partnership with the federal government, that is going to allow us to maximize the capital dollars we have here in

this territory to take advantage of opportunities. The Sahtu is a perfect example of these opportunities. We have to take advantage of those, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, can the Minister work on this with Cabinet to deem the Sahtu a special economic zone where the federal government then can get some results and dollars into the region? Can he do that?

Mr. Chair, I just wanted to mention, too, we have to continue to work on the Economic Opportunities Strategy the government is putting forward. We also have the Mineral Development Strategy. Those two strategies will feed directly into an update on our transportation strategy.

I think, again, that the Sahtu is in a position right now to be a focus of our attention, because the economic potential of that region certainly has the possibility of transforming the economy of the Northwest Territories virtually overnight. We need to be watching what is happening there. We have to get federal dollars into that region. That is something that the government has to continue to work on. We will continue to work on getting more federal dollars into the Northwest Territories so that we can build the infrastructure we need here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Next on my list I have Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just under the marine, I would like to thank the Minister for adding to the expansion of the shop on the Hay River ferry camp, and also stress the need for replacing the ferry at the Mackenzie River.

The bridge is open this coming fall here. It has been brought to my attention that this ferry would better be suited in the Mackenzie River at Tsiigehtchic. This would actually bring down the cost, I believe, to residents in Inuvik, especially in the crisis we are at right now with the fuel situation. I strongly believe that this would bring the cost of living down up in the Beaufort-Delta region. I just wanted to stress that. Thank you.