Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I heard the Minister once mention -- we were talking about highways, and she had mentioned that it's kind of -- our highways are kind of graded on a comfort level, I think, and she said something like four out of ten is what we look at which, I guess, isn't all that great. And when I look at the highway system here in the territories, you know, anything that had pavement on it, we're chip sealing. So I guess I'd like to know from the department is at any point do we look at the -- or do we compare the chip seal to actually paving and what would be the cost benefit, I guess, of one or the other and -- because I guess what I -- when I'm in Alberta, you can see the highways. When the drive through the highway systems, it's paved, and they're a lot nicer and they seem to stand up. So I'm just wondering why we spend so much on -- or we spend our time on chip sealing and not paving. Thank you.
Debates of Oct. 25th, 2022
This is page numbers 4771 - 4832 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was know.
Topics
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, every year we invest a lot of money into some of our road infrastructure, things like chip seal for an example. And I think you're well aware of that very well. I'm going to see if David can speak. We've got a table here of all the work that we have planned for the 2023 and a list of all the different work by region. So I'll get David to perhaps summarize that because we're not going to be reading three pages of a big list of things we're doing. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
The Chair Lesa Semmler
Thank you. Just to go back, I think the question was are chip sealing versus pavement, why are we going from replacing pavement to chip seal; is there a cost?
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 25th, 2022
Page 4806
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Moore
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, very much we work with other jurisdictions and the Transportation Association of Canada looking at road standards, and utilizing that with respect to our traffic counts here in the territory, optimizing the work we need per highway based on the usage and the life cycle of our roads.
As the Minister alluded to, there's significant work planned for 2023-2024 on a number of our highways. I won't read the three pages but there is significant chip sealing we're looking at next year to maintain the quality and integrity and safety of our roads and highways. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Rocky Simpson Hay River South
Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess the other is drainage and culverts. We've had a number of washouts because of high water, and I'm just wondering, I guess, have we, I guess, assessed all the culverts along the highway to see if they meet standards, because it seems like, you know, this last couple years we've been having a frequent number of washouts and the amount of water coming down, the culverts just can't handle them. Thank you.
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, you know, we've had a number of concerns along a lot of our highways in terms of flooding, the impacts, and the costs associated with getting these fixed. I'm going to see if David can speak a little more further on that. Thank you.
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Moore
Thank you, Madam Chair. As the Minister mentioned, the impacts of climate change are certainly a reality with respect to the resilience of our infrastructure, and culverts and bridges are very much in that category. Our team inspect all culverts and bridges regularly, every three years, to maintain -- ensure that they're functioning and operating within proper norms. That being said, there is quite a bit of work that needs to be done and is being done to maintain those culverts. In the case of the ones that have been impacted very much, we're looking at those to ensure that they align with the national standards. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Rocky Simpson Hay River South
Thank you, Madam Chair. And aligning I guess with the Canadian standards, do we have anything in-house with respect to standards and design criteria for culverts and drainage in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, yes, we do. We have staff that does all that work. But I'm going to get David to just speak a little more in detail on some of the great work that we're able to do internally. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4806
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4807
Moore
Thank you, Madam Chair. Definitely we do, an amazing team looking at all our assets. We actually align to some of the best standards in Canada through the Ontario bridge standards, for example. We're also doing a climate change vulnerability assessment review of all our assets working with our sister departments, including culverts. So thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4807
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4807
Rocky Simpson Hay River South
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just looking at the work that's going to be done on the highway, I notice that, I guess -- and it might be there somewhere but I don't see, I guess Highways 2, 4, 5, and 6 on there. And I guess my concern is probably more so Hay River, which is Highway 2, about Kilometre 42 to 48, which is in dire need of work. Can the Minister tell me if that's included in work for this coming summer? Thank you.
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4807
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4807
Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't believe the work is planned for that. I'm looking at my deputy minister here for that. Thank you.
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4807
Committee Motion 312-19(2): Bill 48: Arbitration Act - Deletion of Clause 77, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 4807
Loutitt
Thank you, Madam Chair. That is correct, at this point there's no plans for that area. We are doing maintenance on several different sections of roads on all of our highways. But we have prioritized the major projects and the areas most in need of repairs at this point. Thank you, Madam Chair.