Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is quite right, there are all kinds of issues, such as small regional airports, remote airports, roads. The MacKenzie highway was promised by the government in 1972 under the Right Hon. Prime Minister Trudeau, but the government never followed through. We still do not have that highway. People in those communities are still looking for some way to get out of that remote northern area, other than by ice road in the wintertime.
That is why I think it is extremely important for the government to develop a transportation strategy which would take into consideration all modes of transportation. The government should sit down with all shareholders to come up with a plan that will work.
How will we make sure that the small airports have the facilities they need? How will we make sure that the communities are able to support them? How will we make sure that municipalities and provinces take on their responsibilities as well as the federal government? It can only be done by planning and by addressing all of the issues together. We must understand how they interrelate and how they work together to create a transportation system that will be very competitive for Canada in the 21st century.