Highway Maintenance (November 24)
Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government plans to purchase an extra $15 million of salt, sand, and gravel for use in highway maintenance.
Last year the province bought an extra $10.4 million worth of salt, sand, and gravel above the budget of $25 million and in 2009-10 an extra $13.6 million worth. To the Minister of Transportation: when the department misses the set $25 million budget consistently for three years, doesn’t that mean more should be budgeted in the first place?
The Speaker: The hon. minister.
Mr. Danyluk: Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like to remind the hon. member that in Alberta the weather is very volatile, and at times we need to be prepared. We need to ensure that we do have the sand and gravel and we have the salt so that if we have a weather system that comes through, we don’t leave Albertans at risk. This is about safety on our roads.
Mr. Kang: This is three years in a row, Mr. Speaker. Can we plan in the first place? We can put more money aside. To the minister again: given that, why is the government buying salt, sand, and gravel for highway maintenance at all when we have contracted out highway maintenance in the province?
Mr. Danyluk: Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day it is the expense of the government however the maintenance takes place. I want to just make a little reference to the comment that the individual member made at the beginning. That was three years in a row we had excess or we bought more. I want to say to you that I would rather buy three years of excess sand than I would have one year of not having sand and salt.
The Speaker: The hon. member.
Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that, did the government invent a time machine over the summer and now knows that this year we will use 60 per cent more salt, sand, and gravel than it predicted at budget time, or did the government’s groundhog see its shadow earlier this year and predict six extra weeks of winter?
Mr. Danyluk: Well, Mr. Speaker, just a little on-the-side comment because if the hon. member can predict weather better than that, then he should be in a different occupation because all of the agriculture, all of the support industry, the maintenance industry that we have in this province would very much like to have that information.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to say to you that this government needs to be prepared because we need to ensure that the maintenance of our highways is maintained, and we are ready.
Alberta Hansard, November 24, 2011