Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Tabled Document 1-18(2), Proposed Mandate of Government of Northwest Territories 2016-2019, be amended on page 12 by deleting the words “We will provide high quality public tourism facilities by developing a plan to invest in the modernization of our parks infrastructure and signage, as well as extending tourism opportunities by building new parks such as Doi’Toh Territorial Park in the Sahtu region” and insert the words “We will provide high quality public tourism facilities by modernizing our parks infrastructure and signage, erecting emergency shelters along remote highways, and expand tourism options by building new parks such as Doi’Toh Territorial Park in the Sahtu region.” Thank you, Mr. Chair.

A motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on this change to the mandate. When we talk about emergency shelters, they are needed in some of the territories' remote highways and winter roads. It was a big concern in my riding. It’s a safety issue: People could die from exposure after breaking down on the highways. There have been comments that cell service has improved in the Northwest Territories. However, in some of the remote highways in the Territories the cell service does not work. Travellers travel vast distances in extreme weather conditions. Cabinet must understand the risk and hazards people face travelling in and out of our small remove communities, including people who bring in goods and provide services. Emergency shelters should be strategically located where most needed. Emergency shelters need not be expensive or fancy, just effective. This is cheap insurance. Maintenance is minimal, but a little bit is necessary.

Cultural issues: Northern people have a tradition of helping those who break down on the land and along our roads. This would help us do those things. Making our highways safer will ultimately increase tourism and travel in our territory. Some of these remote highways are not paved or chip-sealed like the one coming to Yellowknife and Hay River. We need to be respectful of this and ensure we provide a safe place for people, especially on the gravel highways. As well, when you deal with transportation and travelling on these remote highways sometimes you don't see people for long periods of time. This is the reason I'm asking to have this added into it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

To the motion. Mr. McNeely.

Mr. Chair, I also support this motion and want to share some of the experiences. As you know, the Sahtu region is remote. It is only accessible in the wintertime. It is only accessible by cold weather travel over compacted snow. This system, North Wrigley, totals 765 kilometres, and you can imagine yourself isolated without access. In most cases, the average traveler doesn't have cell communication, because they can't afford a cell package or a satellite package, so we’ve had numerous close calls, close instances, and even some cases where tragic death has occurred. These shelters do play a vital support to the travellers in case of an accident or incident with the vehicles, and it has happened. You can imagine yourself in this remote area travelling and encountering motor problems. You will be very happy to know that you just passed a shelter and you can walk back to that shelter and get heat and comfort. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

To the motion. Premier McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our territory is endowed with scenic territorial parks in all its five regions. The government has committed to providing quality public tourism facilities at territorial parks throughout the Northwest Territories. These parks are great assets for tourism and many tourists make use of the services and facilities provided at these parks. Currently, we maintain 35 territorial parks including 14 wayside or day-use areas which are established to provide for the enjoyment or convenience of the travelling public. Many of our wayside parks are situated around areas of scenic value or points of interest along highways. We continue to improve the territorial parks experience and annually invest funds to maintain and/or upgrade facilities. The government does not currently have plans to establish any new wayside parks or build any additional buildings and territorial wayside parks due to little demand, nor is there O and M to service existing wayside parks infrastructure. Our tourism road traffic occurs predominantly during the summer months. The large majority of users during the winter months are residents or commercial traffic, not tourists travelling to the Northwest Territories. As a government, we are committed to improving and modernizing our parks infrastructure and we’ll continue to invest in maintaining existing parks. To help ensure the safety of the travelling public, the Department of Transportation of the Government of the Northwest Territories has added additional pull-outs along the highway system and made improvements to existing pull-out areas. These pull-outs allow travellers to rest, stop for personal health issues, and enjoy their surroundings safely. The department constructs and maintains pull-outs with the intention of having one major rest area every one 150 kilometres along the highway network and a pull-out every 50 kilometres. The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is responsible for wayside parks, which are established to provide for the enjoyment or convenience of the travelling public and around scenic points of interest. The departments do not have any plans to build any emergency shelters along highways due to the costs of construction and associated ongoing O and M requirements, as well as the limited demand for shelters. In the past, we have had emergency shelters and it promoted vandalism and other misuse of the shelters. Mr. Chair, I would like to move an amendment to have a Committee motion. If I could read it out, I will proceed to do so.

Proceed.

That Committee Motion 5-18(2) be amended by deleting the words “erecting emergency shelters along remote highways”.

. The motion to amend Committee Motion 5-18(2) is in order. It is being distributed. The motion to amend is in order. To the motion to amend Committee Motion 5-18(2).

About some of the rationale for moving this amendment, and we have had experiences with our toilet facilities and also in the past, as I mentioned, with emergency shelters, so we have those kinds of concerns, Mr. Chair. I would also call for a recorded vote on the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

To the motion to amend. Mr. O'Reilly.

Mr. Chair, I am going to be voting against this amendment. As a resident of Yellowknife, I have travelled a number of the highways in various seasons for work purposes, holidays, and so on, and certainly, our family has a much better piece of mind travelling along those roads and seeing emergency shelters, knowing that if we ever had to use them, they were actually there and available. It's not just folks from the small communities, but even for people from Yellowknife, it's created, I think, a better sense of safety and peace of mind knowing that those sort of facilities are there, so I am going to be voting against this amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

If there are no further comments, I will now put the amendment to the motion to a vote.

A recorded vote has been requested. All those in favour, please stand.

All those opposed, please stand.

All those abstaining, please stand. The results of the recorded vote are seven in favour, ten opposed, zero abstentions. The motion is defeated. We will now go back to Committee Motion 5-18(2). To the motion. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I too would like a recorded vote as well, please.

Question has been called. A recorded vote has been requested. All those in favour, please stand.