Thank you, Madam Chair. Welcome, Minister Ramsay and Mr. Neudorf, back to the House.
I will continue some of the dialogue that was started on Highway No. 3 which was part of our project listing here in the capital budget. As mentioned by the deputy minister, we do hear that in the Building Canada Plan those funds are depleted and we can only imagine trying to make the tough decisions that have to be made by highways and the department itself.
We were also told today that only 20 kilometres of Highway No. 3 will probably be rehabilitated or reconstructed in this upcoming budget, which probably leaves about 80 kilometres of road which, for the most part, if anyone has had the pleasure or displeasure of driving that road, knows full well the concerns anyone travelling to the capital city or leaving the capital city has. We only have to ask one of our own Members here from Behchoko, and I commend the heroics of one Minister Lafferty who did save a life on this road.
So there’s a lot of rationale for safety for this road. Where I’m going with this, Madam Chair, is the fact that safety has always been the priority anytime I discuss roads and strategy behind it.
Some of the road postings for speed limits are not proportionate for the quality and safety of the road that is currently being enforced. I will leave my first question as that. Has the safety component and have the speed limits been adjusted to accommodate the safety profile for the 100-kilometre stretch leading into the capital city?