Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my colleagues from Sahtu and Nahendeh about the extension of the Mackenzie Valley Highway from Wrigley and Norman Wells, given the level of economic activity going on in the Sahtu and the projected level of activity, not wanting to rain on anybody’s parade, but I have to ask the question.
Inuvik-Tuk, I know the federal government is talking about putting 75 percent of that money into that road, but in your recent trips to Ottawa and in your recent discussions, has the idea ever surfaced of putting a higher priority on the Wrigley-Norman Wells portion of the road over the Inuvik-Tuk portion? I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation or the Premier, I guess, has that ever been considered, given the level of activity in the Sahtu at this time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The money that we are going to be receiving from the federal government to construct the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk road is earmarked for that purpose. The communities in the Beaufort-Delta have worked many years at securing that funding, working with our government. Our intention is to construct the Inuvik-Tuk portion as the first portion of the Mackenzie Valley Highway.
In response to Member Yakeleya’s questions earlier, should commercialization happen and these wells be brought into production, that is going to change a lot of things in the central Mackenzie. Once construction starts on the Inuvik-Tuk highway, yes, our focus will certainly switch to southern portions of the Mackenzie Valley Highway. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister said that the funds of the federal government have been earmarked. I guess that’s good news. I mean, 75 cent dollars from the federal government is very good news. It’s been earmarked.
I’d like to ask the Minister if in fact there are not still many hurdles with respect to the commencement of a project like that, and if we as a government should not be paying due diligence to the Wrigley-Norman Wells in view of the activity, in case the other project does not proceed. I don’t want to wait until we turn the soil on one project before we start paying attention to the other.
Are these two considerations being applied concurrently? Is it not true that there are many hurdles to overcome yet before we can start the Inuvik-Tuk highway? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we currently don’t have a commitment from the federal government on any other sections of the Mackenzie Valley Highway. That commitment is for the Inuvik-Tuk portion of the Mackenzie Valley Highway. That’s where we’re going to start.
There are a few items that we have to overcome here in the near term, but our anticipation and expectation is that we will overcome those items. We’ll get the decision made here in the House, and hopefully that decision can be made during the life of this sitting here over the next six weeks. That’s our expectation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of this session, I rather barged into the Premier’s office, where Mr. Ramsay was, and suggested that we should turn our attention to the lower portion of the highway and forget about the upper portion. But Mr. Ramsay assured me we will do both. Industry will participate in the Wrigley-Norman Wells portion.
What gives him confidence to say that industry will come to the table? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier to Member Yakeleya, in any discussion I’ve had with industry – and I’ve had a number of discussions with industry, the companies that are doing work in the Sahtu – there’s a genuine interest by them to have infrastructure put in place. All you have to do is look at Husky constructing a 40 kilometre all-weather road on the other side of the Mackenzie River into one of their ELs to see that there’s some commitment there. As this moves forward, as those wells are proven up and if they are going to be brought into production, certainly industry is going to be a big partner of our government.
Again, we’ll talk to the federal government. I think it has to be an initiative that sees people working together, and that is industry, our government and the federal government. I think that’s going to happen sooner rather than later. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will keep this short. The federal government has expressed a great interest in opening up the North; they have expressed great interest in the development of energy sources in the country. With that in mind, Mr. Ramsay speaks of the federal government coming to the table.
I’d like to know when this government would intend to put forward any kind of formal proposal to the federal government to participate in that part of the highway, as well, the Wrigley to Norman Wells. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I mentioned earlier, our focus right now is getting construction started on the Inuvik-Tuk highway. I know the department and the government are working on other initiatives that include the lower section of the Mackenzie Valley Highway. We look forward to, at the earliest opportunity, sharing that information with the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure and the Regular Members so that we can start looking at other opportunities here to build the infrastructure necessary to get our resources to market. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
