Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, first I want to acknowledge the frustration on the Frank Channel bridge and certainly have also been watching that project over the last short while and was certainly looking forward to seeing it at a different stage of completion. This was a project that is expressly in the Tlicho Infrastructure Cooperation Agreement, and that is an agreement that is certainly -- it is unique in terms of how we are conducting procurement. So that uniqueness sometimes has taken a little bit of time, but certainly the hope here is that once we get to a place where an agreement is signed, which it is now, that we ultimately have a product that is one that is better engaging with the community on whose lands -- with the government on whose lands this project is taking place. So I do want to acknowledge the challenges we've had to date but, again, we're in a good place now in that that agreement has been signed.

Similarly, the comments around from the community members, Mr. Chair, just wanting to, again, say we do monitor the bridge carefully. It is -- it's an old bridge and wasn't designed for the weights of trucks that are now available but heavy loads can reconfigure themselves so that they are not placing inappropriate strain on the bridge.

As for the plow, dump truck, that is meant to service not only Highway No. 3 but also the Tlicho highway. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Monfwi.

No, that's good. Okay, the school -- the school is going to be completed in -- I mean, with the new school in Behchoko, it's planned to be completed, like, I think within ten years. So that's why it's really crucial that Frank Channel bridge, because I don't think -- I think a lot of parents are concerned. So I'm glad that she addressed that. So, yeah, we have to think about the young people that's going to be, you know, travelling on it from Behchoko into Edzo to attend high school -- junior high school and high school. So it's a serious issue for us, especially for the community members.

And I'm glad that there's a new plow -- or the dump truck because I went to visit the facility that -- the infrastructure -- the highway departments in Behchoko. And I saw a lot of these -- they had, like, two or three dump truck and the plow truck too, and I told them, I said holy, I said, are these new? And they said no, these are hand-me-down from Yellowknife, and we painted it. So it looked new. So I'm glad that, you know, they are going to get a new -- new equipment which is -- you know, it's good. So that's all I have is that -- yeah, thank you.

Thank you. Is there any further questions from Members? I'm going to go to the Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My question is in regards to the James Creek maintenance camp. It's stated here that they're going to be fixing up the existing camp. Is there works underway for a new location? I have been told in the past that there was -- they were looking at a new location for a new camp. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this project is a retrofit of the existing location. The Member -- yes, quite correctly, there was originally back -- way back, 2016, looking at replacing the camp, and there was funding back at that time to do so. There was some challenges in that the first site that they landed upon was determined to actually not be suitable for this kind of camp based on the geotechnical and the investigation of the area and, unfortunately, no new sites could be identified in the area that were both compatible with the technical needs, compatible with what was required for the spaces and also appropriate for the local community. And as time rolled on, the new proposal simply started to look like the budgets were becoming quite a bit different as, of course, time moved past what that budget was. So with the budget that was available from now quite dated, it's been decided that rather than losing that funding, rather than being further in a situation with a camp that's increasingly out of date, that's where the decision has come to use the money that is available and rescope to retrofit the existing facility. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the answer. The other question I have is in regards to capital assets on the retrofit fund. For the Aklavik, they were working on the septic tank in Aklavik and they came into some problems. Can you give me some update on what's been done so far? Like, is it safe? You always talk about safety of human lives, and is this project safe for the students and the staff within the school? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll direct this to the assistant deputy minister, please, MacKay, please.

Thank you. I'll go to the ADM.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's more of a comment. I've seen people work with asbetos in the Mackenzie Delta and when they work in those areas, they confine -- they seal the whole area right off before they even work on it and they use special equipment and ventilation and all that precautions before they even start work or -- in that area. So it's pretty well contained. And so hopefully there's no contaminants that will place the students and the staff in danger because they're still using the facility at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Is there any questions from Members? Seeing none, I'm going to go to the Department of Infrastructure, asset management, infrastructure investments, $93,935,000. Does the committee agree?

Thank you, Members. Please turn to page 58, energy and strategic initiatives, with information items on page 59. Are there any questions? I'm going to go to the Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With regards to the Slave Geological Province corridor planning and environmental assessment, could the Minister please give us a substantiation for that? Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm certainly happy to do that. So this project obviously represents a pretty significant potential in infrastructure investment. At this stage, the project is focused on planning as far as Lockhart All-Season Road. That would take from the end -- what is now the end of the Ingraham Trail, commonly known thereof as Ingraham Trail or Highway No. 4, all the way up to Lockhart Lake, and the funding that is here right now would get as far as having a regulatory application in 2025-2026 in order to begin an environmental assessment.

This certainly has been around, as I said, for some time. This was initially advanced back in 2019, and certainly interest has continued in getting to a point where a decision on whether or not to proceed could actually be made. So that's, you know, really a big part of the investment here is for that purpose. This is 75/25 percent funded with the federal government, and the costs to date have been around planning and regulatory review studies. And the work -- you know, again, because of the nature of it, it continues to reflect priorities around economic growth and economic foundations as well as in this case a collaboration with Indigenous governments. Mr. Chair, I continue to receive correspondence from YKDFN and Tlicho governments, in particular, around their interest in seeing this advance and seeing what stage it's at. Mr. Chair, I'm mindful of time. I'll pause there and see what other questions the Member might have. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go back to the Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I would like to know if the Minister can explain how she sees the timelines of this particular environmental assessment aligning with the regional strategic environmental assessment that is underway. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.