Thank you, committee. Please turn to page 7, Industry, Tourism and Investment. Comments or questions?

Seeing none, I will call this item. Industry, Tourism and Investment, capital investment expenditures, economic diversification and business support, not previously authorized, negative $642,000. Does committee agree?

Industry, Tourism and Investment, capital investment expenditures, total department, not previously authorized, negative $642,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. Please turn to the last page. Infrastructure. Comments, questions? Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Our government, I guess, is partnering and getting some money from the federal government to proceed with parts of the Mackenzie Valley Highway. Can the Minister explain what the status is of the Mackenzie Valley Highway Environmental Assessment that is before the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I didn't quite hear what the Member had to say. I apologize. Part of the next capital budget, maybe we will put an allocation in for new earpieces, but I believe Mr. Kalgutkar heard that, so I will ask Mr. Kalgutkar to respond. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Kalgutkar.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The environmental assessment has been going on since 2013. The last letter from our government on the public registry is dated May 18, 2016. That is two and a half years ago.

I want this work to go ahead probably as much as anybody else in this House, but unless we sort out how this work fits in with what the review board is doing and the legislation prevents work from going ahead, that is an environmental assessment.

What is the department doing to get this sorted out with the review board so that the work can go ahead? The last correspondence from our government on the review board website is May 18, 2016. What are they doing to sort this out? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister McLeod has indicated that he would like Minister Schumann to answer. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I stated in the House when we were talking about this earlier in the week, Department of Infrastructure staff has been meeting with the regulatory boards, including the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, to discuss next steps. Those discussions are ongoing.

We are trying to figure out a way to proceed in terms of the environmental assessment, considering that we don't get funding for the whole road. I have stated in the House that the bridge is a totally separate and permitted issue, so that is outside of the scope of the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Those discussions are ongoing. We want to be able to take those discussions and go to the Indigenous governments to figure out next steps going forward within the other organizations as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Given that the Minister of Finance and Minister of Infrastructure are looking for an appropriation for 2018-2019, when is the specific work for, say, the Mount Gaudet access road supposed to start? Is the intention to start it in 2018-2019? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister McLeod would like this to go to Minister Schumann again. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our intention is that we have to see what the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board has to say first, concerning next steps for us. As I said, the bridge is our priority going forward in the next coming year. We believe that is the number one priority, and we will continue to work with the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, Indigenous governments, and other stakeholders to figure out how we are going to do Mount Gaudet going forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess I want to encourage the Minister to sort this out as soon as possible. This isn't the first time I have raised it with him; this is probably the third or fourth time, and there is nothing that has appeared on the review board website about this in the public registry. Maybe there is something happening behind the scenes, but if the department intends to get this work done, they need to sort this out ASAP with the review board. You cannot start work that is within the scope of the environmental assessment. That's the law. They need to sort this out. I would just encourage the Minister to do that as quickly as possible. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Next, I have Mr. McNeely.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I support this appropriation, knowing that they are putting a budget there with the three categories of work, exercise, so I'm satisfied with the numbers, and basically just stating my support. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. McNeely, for that comment. Next, I have Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When Minister Schumann talked about, you know, the priorities and that, so can the Minister of Finance explain to us what the Mount Gaudet Access Road, what that money is going to be used for? Thank you, Mr. Chair.