Transport committee  This year was a classic example of what we're seeing more and more. The road was available for a significantly shorter period of time, and the danger is that if you can't get all your goods in within that window you're stuck for a year. You have no other option in northern Ontari

Transport committee  I can give you a practical example. I can tell you that De Beers loses 15 to 25 days annually on fog days. Imagine, if you will, a somewhat similar situation could exist with airships.

Transport committee  I think the first meeting will be more of an introduction to understand what's involved and what's going on. Certainly from that we will be leading towards all of the potential economic benefits and the “hows” and the “wherefores”. We've engaged a formal study that will give us

Transport committee  Absolutely. I would suggest that the Canadian military attended a conference in Seattle, Washington, several months ago with the specific intention of looking at the viability of using this. I did have the benefit of speaking with an individual who attended, and she also stated v

Transport committee  Just to add to that, I would suggest that Moose Cree is here in the first place because we want to take a leading role in developing this and moving this forward. Moose Cree has always been very aggressive, and that's the role we want to play, because we see a future and we see o

Transport committee  Let me make one comment, and I think Stu could also speak to that. We've had some initial discussions, but nothing is formalized. In my conversations with the chief financial officer for De Beers Canada, he indicated there is significant interest. The practical annual cost for t

Transport committee  It's hard to respond to say what the first or the second step should be. Let me suggest to you that any solution needs to be a combination of things. Having a permanent road to Moosonee certainly will help and certainly benefit Moosonee, but it still does not assist those mining

Transport committee  I would like to begin by saying thank you very much for the opportunity to present to you today. I will get directly into it. My objective is to provide you with context as to what is going on in northern Ontario.

Transport committee  As you can see by the slide that's in front of you, that's the James Bay coast. The area I'm from is the Moosonee and Moose Factory area, which is in the bottom left. As you can see by the map, that's the area I'm most concerned about, although the issues we're to speak to today