Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As everyone knows, Hay River is the hub of the North. March is a very mad time of year. We have a lot of the shipping of fuel getting up to the northern communities. Right now tends to be a time when we get a lot of questions about the road systems, about how winter roads can be extended and how we can keep those roads open for longer.
We’ve been hearing lots of issues about cycles, the amount of money that the GNWT puts into road construction at the beginning and as well at the end. How do we keep these roads open? We’re getting a lot of questions and concerns from constituents and companies that are operating in those areas asking why are companies telling us we only have two more cycles to do road repairs, to fix roads, to grade them, to water them. It’s always about funding. It’s always about money.
I know we just spent a bunch of money this year in our firefighting system and fire suppression. I think roads are critical. We have people from the communities who travel down on these roads. Road safety is a very big concern for them. We have lots of trucks on the road. If those roads are in rough shape, it’s very unsafe for the general public and the travelling public.
Even this past weekend we had a truck roll over. One of the situations in that was the way the road was built. My concern is, and my question to the Minister of Transportation will be, why can we not put more money into the roads just like fire suppression if we have a rough year? If we have a tough year building roads, why can’t we ask for additional money? I think most of the Members on this side would be supportive of making sure the roads are safe for the general public. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.