Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since early Monday morning, the Hay River area has been seeing some extreme weather conditions. Each of the past three nights, the area has seen three to six inches of heavy, wet snow. This has been causing problems with power lines, roads, airports and highways.

My colleague from Hay River and I have been keeping up with the departments and organizations

in the Hay River area. Northland Utilities has sent in an additional crew from Yellowknife this morning to deal with downed power lines and overhanging trees.

A complete staff is working day and night. More crews will be sent in if required. The Town of Hay River has been working every morning starting at 4:00 a.m., working as long as the crews can work. Andrew Cassidy has indicated that every road in the community has been touched by a piece of equipment once, and now they are working, hopefully in the next day or two, to get most of the snow removed. As he indicated, the snow is extremely wet and extremely heavy. The town has also contracted out extra equipment to deal with this extra snowfall.

We also had an opportunity to get an update from DOT, Department of Transportation. Airport crews have been working long hours to make sure the airport stays open, and last night the airport crew was able to keep the operations open, especially in case of medevacs required. The department of highways has been working throughout Hay River and area to try to clear the roads as quickly as possible. They have the full crews working on the project.

I want people to be careful during this difficult time in the Hay River area. Stay clear of low-lying power lines and do not cut any trees near any power lines. Leave that to the professionals. Travel is recommended only if required. We hope that all the crews out there stay safe, and keep an eye out for all those crews that are working. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.