Thank you, Madam Chair. I will get ADM Vandenberg to talk in a little bit more detail about MTS. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Vandenberg.

Thank you, Mr. Vandenberg. Are there any further questions from Members under programs and services? Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can the Minister just maybe clarify air, marine, and safety and the $4.309 million? What does that number encompass? What is the money used for? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The air, marine, and safety is responsible for some of the planning, monitoring, managing airport and ferry infrastructure, which includes five ferry vessels, four ferry crossings, and runways and lighting at 26 airports. It also provides strategic direction to be able to optimize commercial development at airports and is responsible for developing system-wide asset management, maintenance and operations standards, and administering these safety management system so we can comply with some of the federal legislation. Yes, that's what that is. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd just like to talk a bit about marine and the ferries. What we have here is, I think, an aging fleet. They're probably upwards of 40, 50 years old. At some point, we're probably just patching them and giving them a little bit more life. I would like to ask if there's been any planning with respect to building new vessels or doing any real major retrofits to the ones that we have in the fleet right now? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member is right. He sees these aging infrastructure every day when he probably drives by the Marine Transportation Service in Hay River. We continuously look for federal funding to be able to get better improved tugs and better improved, to comply with some of the Transportation Canada rules around what is required for some of our aging infrastructure. To speak more specifically about this is ADM Vandenberg to talk a little bit more about where we're at. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Vandenberg.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. One of the concerns I have is: with the amount of ice that came down, say for instance, the Liard last fall, the integrity of the hulls of those ferries could very well be compromised. It resulted in the ferry there being stuck out in the ice, and it had to be rescued. That's why I am just wondering why or if we are going to look at upgrading them, maybe upgrading the hulls to account for possible, for running them longer during the fall and when there's ice out there. In reality, it's a safety issue, and if there would have been vehicles on that ferry when it did get away there and get stuck, there could be some real liability there for the government. Is there anything that we're doing to ensure that the safety of the passengers on those ferries are looked after? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Absolutely. This is something that we need to look at, and I mentioned earlier about the stricter requirements from Transport Canada about having single hulled barges, tugs versus double hulled, and the amount it would cost to be able to look at that. Even just looking at some of our ferries across the Northwest Territories and the need to, perhaps, have a look, every year, we do a little bit of work, and I hear the Member's concern about what happened in one of the communities by Fort Simpson and how we need to ensure that we have safety as the utmost respect for these tugs and our staff, as well. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just previously, we were talking about energy initiatives, so I'm wondering if there's any planning with respect to converting some of these ferries to electric and with a diesel backup because the amount of diesel they go through even though they're running for part of the year, it may be something that is worth trying. I would like to ask the Minister if that's being considered, and if not, why? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That makes a lot of sense, but there's a lot of work to be able to put some of these projects into play. I am going to look to ADM Vandenberg to see if that's something the department thought of in terms of how we, to be able to efficiently do things better. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Vandenberg.

Thank you. Member.