Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As our days get warmer and the ice melts from the lakes and the rivers, residents of our remote coastal communities look forward to being resupplied by marine transportation services. The Nunakput communities rely on the barges each summer for essential goods, fuels, and services which can only be delivered in the summer months in a short operating window.
As this House knows, unfortunate weather last August caused the last barges of the season to be cancelled. This resulted in the already high cost of living to rise. I have spoken before about my constituents not being able to afford fuel to go on the land harvesting and hunting, which causes a vicious cycle of them being forced to buy expensive food at the store instead of providing for their families from the land.
It was for this reason that I was pleased to hear the Minister say that they are planning an earlier start to the shipping season. I encourage the Marine Transportation Services to use this season to do some long-term planning for future ice conditions, working with Transport Canada and other agencies that are experts in the Arctic sea ice and weather conditions on the western gate of the Northwest Passage so that they can maximize their chances of completing all the reply routes each year.
Mr. Speaker, one way to improve shipping times could be the use of the now-complete Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway to bring goods to the coast and then stage shipping from Tuktoyaktuk. This would have the advantage of cutting the sailing time. Goods could start to be collected before the sea ice has broken up, and sailing schedules may be easier to adjust to account for conditions in the Beaufort Sea.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, investing not just the physical infrastructure, the docks and wharfs of the coastal communities, but also by mapping the ports of entry into the communities and monitoring any changes to the seabed may also help ensure that the shipping season runs smoothly. I look forward to hearing from the Minister on any investments being made to improve marine shipping in the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic this year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.