Certainly I look forward to the approval of the corridor proposal that the Minister talks about and see if it comes to fruition in regard to supporting the transportation issues in the Sahtu and specifically Norman Wells. When I was there I certainly saw a number of airplanes parked and it’s
quite crowded in there. Norman Wells, being the second busiest airport on a consistent basis in the Northwest Territories, I’d certainly like to see support for being in that category. We need to continue to support that. I’ll leave it at that.
I want to ask the Minister on the airport in Deline. I do thank the Minister for taking some time out of his busy schedule to talk to the chief, the land corp president and self- government negotiator when we were in his office this morning, about the willingness of the community of Deline to look at a type of partnership that was had by the Department of Transportation some years ago with Fort Good Hope. I need the willingness and the partnership of your department to say yes, we can make a go of it rather than drag its feet on this request. I say that because Deline has been at it for a while. They want the standards and the designs of extending their runway, because right now, under the regulations, the Department of Transportation says you only can use a certain type of aircraft with a number of people, and that doesn’t make any type of business case for NorthWright Airlines to come into the community, if you can only fly a certain number of people into that community. That’s what they are stating.
The bottom line: Deline wants to get into a partnership They need to know the designs and standards and the specs of increasing the runway, and they will go out and help get the money and go in the partnership just like they did in Fort Good Hope, but I need your department officials to play with them, work hard with them and get them the money. They’re not asking for all the money. They want to work in partnership to extend their runway. That’s all they’re asking. Even at their small airport facility, it’s really crowded in there. I mean, I do acknowledge the amount of money this government has and where do you put the money, and for some of the airports I keep seeing a new loader or a new dump truck. It seems like sometimes those take priority, for whatever reason, than to help some of the smaller communities. I’m going to leave it at that.
I want to ask because this is important infrastructure for people in the Sahtu, especially when we have to fly. We don’t have an all-weather road and that’s our only means of transportation through some parts of the season. Airports are very important to us.