Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't want to waste every single Member of the Legislative Assembly's time on this, but I've asked this repeatedly, and I've repeatedly been told that by April 1^st, we'll have a solution. I am not hearing anything that leads me to believe that that is now true. What I'm actually looking for is the conversations that have had with the City of Yellowknife. Has the City of Yellowknife said, "Yes, we'll do this for $100,000," and we decided that was too high? Has the City of Yellowknife said, "No, there's a risk assessment," and there's no way we'll offer this? Have we not even made an offer to the City of Yellowknife? I'm not worried about the larger consultation that has to happen. Just in the next five weeks, I want to understand what has happened with the City of Yellowknife and what will happen with the City of Yellowknife? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That's a conversation that we've been having with the city. I will provide an update to the Member to let the Member know where we currently are sitting at with those conversations and what the city has actually committed to, and that information will be provided to the Member. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just looking at ground ambulance and highway rescue, can the Minister tell me: are they two separate things? Ground ambulance, is that one category and highway rescue something different? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister of MACA.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will have Mr. Gary Schauerte respond to the question. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Schauerte.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This issue, it's been ongoing and especially for Hay River. Hay River, we have Highways No. 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 in close vicinity, so we have got a good length of the highways to look after. In the Northwest Territories, you have got 2,200 kilometres of all-season and 1,400 kilometres of winter roads. I look at the $185,000, that is $84 per kilometre for the all-season. If you take them all, it's $51 per kilometre, which is really not a lot of money, so I am just wondering: we have been talking about it, and I listen to the questions from the MLA from Yellowknife North. We do not seem to be getting any further ahead in addressing the issue of ground ambulance and highway rescue, so I would ask the Minister: are we making any headway, or are we expecting to make any headway with addressing ground ambulance and highway rescue throughout the Northwest Territories? It seems like we spin our wheels, and it's not just this Assembly. It's past Assemblies, as well, so it's not like it's a new issue. That is the question: are we making any headway with this? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister of MACA.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Throughout the Northwest Territories, depending on which jurisdiction and the highways, as well, where they exist, it becomes quite complicated. I am going to have Mr. Gary Schauerte elaborate on the current statuses throughout the Northwest Territories and how we administer the highways within Hay River, Inuvik, and Fort Smith, and looking at what MACA is responsible for and looking at the partnerships we have with the communities and with department of health. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Schauerte.

Thank you, Mr. Schauerte. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That is all fine and dandy, but at the end of the day, the reality is that we have been waiting and waiting and waiting. We do not seem to be making a lot of headway. In Hay River, again, like I say, there is no way that the Town of Hay River is going to say, "No, we are not going to go out on an emergency call." You just do it because it's the right thing. It does not matter what the cost. Until you have actually had somebody that required, on the highway, that service, and I have for one of my children. It's so valuable, but we seem to fight or we seem to look at the cost. There is a reason for that, but at the same time, we have to make some decisions because we have to deal with it. On Highways No. 1 and 3, we have I don't know how many trucks rolling down that highway between the end of March or middle of March or January to March, like 10,000. There is the potential for accidents and that, so it's very important. I am hoping that, when we come back next time, we actually hear something positive, that some agreements are in place, no more of this, "Well, we are looking at it; we are engaging; we are reviewing." If we took some of that money and put it into this, maybe we would have these agreements in place by now. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. If you have no further questions, then I will move on to the Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just in regard to the ambulance services on the Tuktoyaktuk Inuvik Highway, that we do not have any, something should be really looked at. Ambulance services that we do have in the riding, in Nunakput, it's all in the back of an RCMP truck, in the back of an F-150 Ford, and that is unacceptable. I am thinking that, if you could even send us your old ambulances from down here and buy yourselves new ones, it would be good. That is how bad we need it in the community. What we should be doing is really working with the hamlet and the SAO, senior administrative officer, to try to get ambulance services into the Nunakput communities and for the Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Highway. That service is needed really badly. It's more of a comment because I am picking up where Mr. Simpson is speaking to, but I think it should be done quicker rather than later and invest a little bit of money. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister of MACA.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the comments coming forward, and looking at the ambulance services, it's kind of a really foggy approach, I want to say, that we do not have the commitments to be looking at this type of service to be offered. I want to put into comparison that we provide the firefighter initiative in the smaller communities and looking at the education and training that comes with that and also looking at the liability for offering ambulance services and the urgency to have trained, qualified people to be running these trucks and being able to be first on hand when there is a need for the ambulance services on the highways. I also want to say that, other than the budget that we do have, 83 percent of our budget does go out into the smaller communities, and MACA does provide that extra, that support for the communities on future planning, capital planning, and what is it that they are wanting to intend in the next few years. I am going to bring this back to my department, and I want to bring this to standing committee, as well, so I could really provide a clearer understanding of where MACA sits with this. Looking at the $185,000 that we do have in this budget, that is mainly for equipment and training for the communities, to support them that way. I would like to just bring that back and provide a clearer understanding to the Members. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Nunakput.

No. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just need ambulances. Thank you.