Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about another potentially significant development in our northern transportation system. On Monday, June 6, 2011, the Government of Canada announced funding for the construction of an all-season road between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk.
Mr. Speaker, this investment not only builds momentum behind a dream long held by residents of the region, to drive on an all-season road between the communities, but it also realizes the first step to complete the construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway project.
As the celebrating and the handshaking were underway, Mr. Speaker, the Department of Transportation was already hard at work to ensure momentum continues to move forward for the project. Mr. Speaker, maintaining that forward momentum may be challenging, considering the 16th Assembly will dissolve at the end of this sitting and a general election will be called in September.
Mr. Speaker, some of the more substantive project planning activities for the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway that have to be completed include the environmental assessment now being conducted by the Environmental Impact Review Board; discussions with Canada on the funding agreement, and with the Inuvialuit Land Administration on a purchase agreement for the highway right-of-way.
Mr. Speaker, completing these high-level activities at the official’s level will provide Members of the next Legislative Assembly with the information they will require to make a decision on this project. Completing this work will demonstrate to the federal government, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, and to residents in the communities of Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik how important the project is to the Government of the Northwest Territories. This recognition was also made when the 16th Assembly unanimously passed a motion in support of a Mackenzie Valley Highway to Tuktoyaktuk.
These are exciting times for Northerners. The federal government’s investment in transportation infrastructure will promote regional economic and employment opportunities, through road construction and maintenance. This investment will improve access to oil and gas resources, it will create community access and mobility, and it will advance Canada’s ability to assert sovereignty over lands occupied by our Aboriginal ancestors for generations.
With determination and patience, the Department of Transportation has been building the Mackenzie Valley Highway one section at a time. While new road construction in the territory remains a federal responsibility, the Government of the Northwest Territories has not been sitting on its hands waiting for Canada to build the highway.
Instead, the Department of Transportation has been making considerable progress since the 1950s, when Prime Minister Diefenbaker’s government first recognized the Canadian advantage of having a highway connecting the country from coast to coast to coast. In 1995 the Department of Transportation completed the all-weather highway as far north as Wrigley, and began operating the N’Dulee ferry. In 2001 the department began investing in grade improvements and permanent bridge construction along the Mackenzie Valley winter road.
Thirty-five bridges later, and with another two planned for this season, the winter road season has been dramatically extended and stabilized, and the environmental and safety risks associated with ice crossing construction have been reduced.
Finally, in 2008 the Department of Transportation and the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk partnered under the Building Canada Plan to construct a 19-kilometre access road to Gravel Source 177. Hamlet residents are now using the road to access the gravel source, to access the land, and other opportunities. With some upgrading, the road will become a section of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway.
Once complete, the stretch of highway linking the two communities may be the first 137 kilometres of the Mackenzie Valley Highway; an aspiration Northerners have held for more than five decades. All these improvements ultimately serve the future all-weather Mackenzie Valley Highway.
The Department of Transportation continues to work toward the dream of connecting the Mackenzie Valley to the Arctic coast, and has made significant progress in the last 10 years. With the federal announcement, Northerners are one step closer to driving the length of the Mackenzie Valley from Wrigley to Tuktoyaktuk.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
