Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Highway No. 5 is the road between Fort Smith and Hay River, and it spans 273 kilometres. It was constructed in 1966 as a gravel road, but it is now a fully paved highway that passes through Wood Buffalo National Park. Missing from this highway, though, Mr. Speaker, is a cellular service along the entirety of the road. This is a long stretch of road to have no cellular service. I would like to enhance my colleague's request to build cellular infrastructure along Highway No. 3, servicing Behchoko to Yellowknife, and include with it a cellular service along Highway No. 5. This is a much-needed infrastructure that needs to be built in order to increase the level of safety for all travellers who use Highway No. 5. In the event of an emergency, unless travellers have a satellite phone, they are obliged to depend on other bypassers along the highway to get any rescue assistance. Again, this is a 273-kilometre highway.

Mr. Speaker, this is not okay and is not acceptable. In this day and age, I think we have reached a point where this is considered critical infrastructure, and building it ought to be a no-brainer. It's a busy highway, and it is the only highway in and out of Fort Smith. It is also the NWT's entryway into Wood Buffalo National Park, which is the second-largest park in the world, making it a great tourist destination. A project like this would serve twofold. It would both enhance our highway safety and help increase the prospects of tourism in the South Slave region of the NWT. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, if the government is planning to enter into any new service contracts to install cellular service along any NWT highway, I would like to request that Highway No. 5 be considered in any future negotiations. I will have questions for the Minister of Finance at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.