Mr. Speaker, we’ve been hearing a lot about the Deh Cho Bridge. But today I want to talk about the Peel River Bridge.
It’s a bridge that’s been around for some time. The Inuvik Chamber of Commerce was looking at the Peel River Bridge back in 1981. They contacted an engineering firm to look at the viability of building a bridge across the Peel River. They were looking in regard to finding ways to improve the transportation to the oil and gas industry in the Beaufort Sea, which was booming back in the early ‘80s and into the middle of the ‘80s.
Yet very little has been done by way of work from this government in regard to looking at other bridges, other potential transportation that links us across the Northwest Territories such as the Peel River, the Liard River, the Mackenzie River up around Tsiigehtchic. I think that as a government we’re spending a lot of money on one bridge. But I’m wondering what are we doing to other bridges throughout the Northwest Territories. We had to cancel the bridge in regard to the Bear River because of cost overruns.
I’m wondering, as a government, what are we doing universally to ensure that we’re looking at all our infrastructure throughout the Northwest Territories to see exactly what the real cost at the end of the day is going to be to improve our infrastructure, to put permanent bridges in all across where the ferry operations are? That’s an issue where we’re basically having to look at alternative ways of crossing our river systems.
Again, going back to my point about the Peel River, which has been in the works for some 26 years, the Chamber of Commerce in Inuvik was looking at this item along with the community of Fort McPherson. For some time we’ve been talking about it, talking about it and talking about it. Yet as a government I’d just like to know how much resources have been spent on the Peel River Bridge, considering that we’ve spent in excess of $9 million on the Deh Cho Bridge.
I think it’s important as a government that if we’re making these types of investments, we look at the total picture of the Northwest Territories, see what exactly the total infrastructure costs are in regard to our infrastructure from highways, bridges, roads, airports and whatnot. In that way we know what the long-term financial implications are going to be to this government.
I think it’s important in this government that we do have this debate and that we do look at the possibility of the implications in regard to financial implications and how we’re going to get the work done.
I will have some questions to the Minister of Transportation on this matter. Thank you.
