This is page numbers 3027 – 3066 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 4th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was community.

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Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to speak a bit about the structures and chipsealing. Rehabilitation and

replacement are of concern. A few of my colleagues have shared the concern about kilometre 187 on Highway No. 1, which is the Providence junction and all the chipseal that is there to about 216. It’s been identified by my colleagues as a priority. There’s some good chipsealing there and it’s deteriorating. In my opinion, I think we should save that. We’ve got a bit of a budget here for next fiscal year and I’m going to propose we make this a priority for 2014. Perhaps firstly I can ask the Minister what is the plan for this section.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. With that, we’ll go to Mr. Neudorf.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Russ Neudorf

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is referring to the section of Highway No. 1 that would go from Fort Providence junction, kilometre 187, to Checkpoint, kilometre 411. We have had funding in our capital plan for that up until this fiscal year to do reconstruction and, as part of that, do some chipsealing. That was funded under the Building Canada Plan from the federal government. We have chipsealed the first portion from kilometre 187 to 216 or so and we are reconstructing from kilometre 395 to 411. With some money that will be carried over this year, we will get a chipseal on that 16 kilometre stretch from kilometre 395 to kilometre 411.

There is no money in the capital plan to go forward specifically for Highway No. 1 reconstruction. We do have various chipseal, culvert and bridge rehabilitation programs and we use that to maintain, rehabilitate, replace structure and chipseal surfaces as the needs warrant. It’s very, very important for us to have that program and to ensure that it’s properly funded so we can maintain the integrity of our system, so we have a way to replace, rehabilitate infrastructure as it comes to the end of its lifecycle or fails prematurely.

We do have a general plan for where we expect to be doing chipseal and culverts and bridges next year. We always wait until the spring of the year, though, to finalize the plan so we can see what the exact conditions are and then decisions about where to best allocate the funding that we have. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Neudorf. Mr. Menicoche.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

I’d like to thank the deputy minister for that explanation of that line item. Just with that, and without getting into further debate, I do have a committee motion here that I would like to move, Mr. Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Just give a second to circulate the motion. Mr. Menicoche, you can actually read your motion to the House.

Committee Motion 90-17(4): Chipseal Overlay, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee strongly recommends that the government place a high priority on the chipsealing and rehabilitation on Highway No. 1 between kilometre 187 and kilometre 216 beginning in the fiscal year 2014-15. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Committee Motion 90-17(4): Chipseal Overlay, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Again, we’ll just take a second to circulate that motion.

Motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Menicoche.

Committee Motion 90-17(4): Chipseal Overlay, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think it’s important to state early on here that it’s not asking for any money to be included in the budget, but it only asks that the department place priority on this almost 30 kilometres of chipseal that’s been deteriorating over the years. I didn’t hear any competence in the Minister’s answer that they do plan to do it next year, and I feel that if we leave it past the 2014 season that we’re going to lose almost half of it because it’s all patches, gravel and chipseal. It’s got little painted lines; it’s actually quite tricky to navigate as it is today. To see us lose it all by another year of letting it sit would be a shame. I feel that it would be good expenditures of dollars, because it’s just rehabilitating what’s there in patches and to save the infrastructure that we have there.

For a section of highway that’s listed on the National Transportation Strategy, Highway No. 1, it’s kind of a shame to see it patched up here and there, particularly this fall. On the gravel sections that got exposed, there are holes and it’s almost unsafe. It’s when the weather affects it that badly.

So I’m just asking my colleagues to support me in directing the Department of Transportation to make this section part of their priority as we move forward for rehabilitation of chipsealing next fiscal year, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Committee Motion 90-17(4): Chipseal Overlay, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. To the motion. Mr. Nadli.

Committee Motion 90-17(4): Chipseal Overlay, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, too, speak in favour of the motion. I think it was publicly stated through reports that tourism is on the rise, more so and particularly in the Trout River part. There’s been an increased level of interest in terms of people using that facility. At the same time, we have an increase in tourists travelling up north. I believe that section of highway, if at least chipsealed and properly maintained, would be a celebration for tourists that are travelling from down south coming up north. It’s integral in terms of giving people a reprieve of a smooth ride into particularly this part of the North.

So I support this motion and I’m sure that this deserves priority. Mahsi.

Committee Motion 90-17(4): Chipseal Overlay, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. To the motion.

Committee Motion 90-17(4): Chipseal Overlay, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Question.

Committee Motion 90-17(4): Chipseal Overlay, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Question has been called.

---Carried

Committee, again, we are on section 9-10. Continuing on with questions, I have Mr. Yakeleya.

Committee Motion 90-17(4): Chipseal Overlay, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My questions to Minister Ramsay are on the planning of the infrastructure of the Mackenzie Valley winter road. It is in regard to the amount of traffic that could be there this coming winter. With the amount that we’ve seen or heard of last year, 2,200 trucks coming up from Wrigley to Tulita and then up to Norman Wells and across to the oilfields, I want to state that I was somewhat disappointed when I read the capital infrastructure and didn’t see any type of infrastructure to protect the people and the safety. There’s going to be a lot of trucks on that road and some of them will be carrying some pretty dangerous chemicals, hauling in and hauling out. The Minister has experienced this and I appreciate the Minister for coming with me last year on the winter road from Fort Good Hope to Fort Simpson. He got a firsthand account of the style of road that we have and the continuous improvement that we do need here. I don’t think we’re quite up to the standards that we want to have for safety.

We were in North Dakota and we did see some pictures of their paved roads where there were grooves in their paved roads because of the amount of trucks that were passing through the county there, and that’s no different than the ice paving project that we have on the winter roads where the grooves are pretty well dug into the road there.

So I want to see if the Minister would look again to see if there is any type of funding that would help with some of the road infrastructure as to clearing out some spots, lining up some of the areas that we need to work on. I know there is some bridge work going on there. That was given last year. We certainly appreciate that, but we need some more in regard to some of the areas that are quite tricky to maneuver around some of these spots.

I ask the Minister, other than what he told me earlier on today in regard to safety, we need to put some money into those roads. Again, I’m not quite convinced that because the development is happening in the Sahtu, the Minister mentioned the amount of $90 million and we’re not seeing any type of infrastructure. It doesn’t make sense. I mean, what else do we need to do to put dollars

into those winter roads? Right now it doesn’t show anything. That’s where the activity is.

So what type of business case is the government operating in terms of putting money into our winter roads to show them that they support development? They might not like that in the region. They might say, well, they’re not showing any type of support for us on the Mackenzie Valley winter road. Maybe development is not looked upon as a favourable economic booster in the GNWT. So maybe we’ll take our time and we might have other thoughts to the hydraulic fracking, because they’re certainly not seeing the type of support we need on the winter road. The Minister will know from the amount of phone calls last year that we took, he understood about the conditions of our winter road. I think we need to really look at this again. Thank you.

Committee Motion 90-17(4): Chipseal Overlay, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister Ramsay.

Committee Motion 90-17(4): Chipseal Overlay, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A couple of things. First of all, we do firmly believe in the economic future of the Sahtu region, central Mackenzie Valley and the importance of not only having a winter road down the Mackenzie Valley but also advancing, at every turn, an all-weather road down the Mackenzie Valley. You need to look at the Corridors for Canada III proposal to see that we’re serious about investing in a big way into the Sahtu. We’re looking at the Bear River Bridge, the Oscar Creek Bridge, Bosworth Creek Bridge, and I’ve mentioned it before, but my goal is to envision to have a winter road all the way down the valley, and I think we’re getting close. There is money in Corridors for Canada III to enable us to do that, to have a road from Fort Good Hope, a winter road from Fort Good Hope to the Dempster. We need to keep moving in a positive direction. I really do believe that we are moving in that direction.

Just so the Member knows, we haven’t finished negotiating with industry on what support they’re going to approve the government with to help us maintain and enhance the winter road this coming season. Earlier today I spoke to the Member about some of the enhancements we’ve done in terms of looking at more manpower in the region for enforcement and safety.

We’ve done a lot of work on mapping the route and we’re going to try to ensure that there’s an orientation for drivers going up the winter road. They can get a map. We can ensure that they’re well prepared, especially if they’re new drivers. We’re doing everything we can to ensure that it’s going to be a successful winter season on that winter road. We haven’t got to the stage where we know exactly what we’re going to be getting from industry, and hopefully it is equivalent to what we’ve received in the past, but again, those negotiations aren’t concluded.

We also will be looking at the completion of more bridges this coming winter, and I know the Member and I spent some time on the winter road last winter. We saw those areas of concern, and especially with Bob’s and Strawberry, those are going to be completed this coming season, so that’s going to improve the safety of the road. Again, I mentioned earlier the other crossings. We are continuing to move in the right direction, and again, in this year, in a perfect world we’d have money for everything right now, but we’re working with what we’ve got, the best that we can, and we have a plan for the future and it requires a substantial amount of funding. I mean, everybody talks about the infrastructure deficit that we face here, and we really need to get a plan like Corridors for Canada off the ground so we can continue to invest in our infrastructure so that we can grow the economy here in the NWT.

Committee Motion 90-17(4): Chipseal Overlay, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

The Minister outlined several areas that certainly bring interest to me. However, I do have a motion I want to read in this section here, so if I could.

Committee Motion 90-17(4): Chipseal Overlay, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Yes. Go ahead, Mr. Yakeleya.

Committee Motion 91-17(4): Funding For Mackenzie Valley Winter Road System, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

October 21st, 2013

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee strongly recommends that the government take immediate action to identify appropriate and ongoing levels of funding to support the development and expansion of the Mackenzie Valley winter road system beginning the fiscal year 2014-2015.

Committee Motion 91-17(4): Funding For Mackenzie Valley Winter Road System, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. We’re just going to circulate the motion quickly.

Committee, the motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Yakeleya.

Committee Motion 91-17(4): Funding For Mackenzie Valley Winter Road System, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The motion speaks to the support that’s needed in the Mackenzie Valley winter road system. Looking at the infrastructure and hearing the Minister talk, I appreciate his continuous effort to negotiate with the oil and gas industry and seeing what they’re going to do to support their operations. It’s in their best interest to seek the most advantageous road system going up from Wrigley to Norman Wells. Sometimes I wonder if the oil industry wasn’t there, then we wouldn’t have much additional dollars here. I’m wondering if this here is we’re relying on the oil company to help us out in this area here, and sometimes that’s not too good because we’re waiting for them, because in here we really have nothing. If the oil industry walks away and says

sorry, we’re not going to negotiate as much as you think and they can give you whatever reason. But we are relying on the oil and gas industry to help us with the infrastructure. It should be ours. This is a public winter road system that we should be able to put money in to help with the road.

I do know that they’re hoping that the federal government would approve the Corridors for Canada III for future funding, and the Bear River, the Oscar and Bosworth are bridges that certainly need attention. The Bear River is close to $7 million. Oscar needs to be rejigged and put back in to its proper place. The Minister and I drove past that bridge last year and it’s a bridge certainly sitting there doing nothing. If you want to look at efficiency of the government’s and taxpayers’ dollars, it’s just sitting there while we have to go around. We want to really look at those types of situations. The Bosworth is just outside the roads of Norman Wells.

Again, I ask for support because there are going to be a lot of trucks on the winter road. Safety is number one. There were a lot of close calls on the winter road last year. The Minister outlined some provisions to have some safety mechanisms in place. It’s good in theory, but in practicality, when you drive that winter road, you drive it, actually, for dear life. The government needs to put some infrastructure and straighten out those roads, straighten out those bends, and look at those hills. It has to be done. It’s no different than any other road in the Northwest Territories. I think my people in the Sahtu, their lives are worth it. I’m asking this motion here to ask the government to reconsider, and I would appreciate the support from all Members. Thank you.

Committee Motion 91-17(4): Funding For Mackenzie Valley Winter Road System, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. Mr. Bromley.

Committee Motion 91-17(4): Funding For Mackenzie Valley Winter Road System, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will be supporting the motion here. I appreciate my colleague bringing this forward. This relying on industry…(inaudible)…policy, as we heard during our tour in the Bakken from just about everybody not to rely on industry, don’t be controlled by them. In fact, take control and make them participate and so on. We heard a lot of horror stories last winter, and I know the Minister and the Member for the Sahtu described some of the close calls they actually witnessed, and we’ve all heard stories from people who drove the highway and observed people or truck drivers and their trucks falling down hills, and in one case even abandoning the truck when it started to slide down the hill. These sorts of accidents.

We know that industry ignored the rules and the regulations for the use of the ice road and were ignorant about that, and I know the department’s been working on that, and I think maybe late in the game we did try to get some enforcement going out

there, but this is pretty classic stuff. Now we are talking about moving into a season where we are actually going to be moving toxic hazardous materials over the road in large quantities with large, wieldy pieces of equipment, so the costs are going up. The stakes are much higher.

During our tour, again, we heard from the medical emergency people that the sorts of accidents that you see with this sort of activity are, as they described in their words, grotesque, horrific, like a war zone. These are big, awkward pieces of equipment, often with hazardous materials and it’s not pretty. In fact, like a war zone, they said. They were having to treat more and more people for emergency medical providers with post-traumatic stress syndrome as a result of attending these accidents. I think we are treating this pretty lightly. I appreciate, again, the attention that my colleague Mr. Yakeleya is bringing with this motion, to try and learn from the lessons of others and get ahead of the game here. I know the Minister is also aware of this information. It was his tour that we were on when we heard this information. I appreciated that opportunity. Mahsi.

Committee Motion 91-17(4): Funding For Mackenzie Valley Winter Road System, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. To the motion.