Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Four years ago we were elected to this House. One of the first statements I made was about dredging of the Hay River and the requirement for this. This issue has been before this Assembly for more than a decade to look at Hay River dredging, and our government continues to ignore that. Our government keeps saying, federally it’s a responsibility. Again, the Premier makes a statement about key infrastructure today, and he talks about a whole bunch of different highways, a whole bunch of road construction, which is also supposed to be a federal responsibility.
I’m getting very frustrated and it’s very difficult to even speak in this House without getting called on a point of order on the language that I want to use.
This has become a crisis for the community of Hay River. We have veteran fishermen who are not going on the water because it’s unsafe in the springtime to go there. Until the bigger ships take some of the sediment down, they’re not willing to go out on the water. They’re not creating a livelihood there.
We know that the hub of the North is Hay River. We know that this is key to the Northwest Territories to resupplying a whole bunch of the communities in the Northwest Territories. How can our government sit here for four years, for decades and ignore that concern?
We have all kinds of discussion about major infrastructure here and the dredging in Hay River is ignored. I’ve asked this Minister several times, along with the federal government, to deal with the dredging. I understand millions of dollars are the issue, but we write a $12 million cheque when we have a cost overrun on a project, no problem. We need $12 million for a key piece of infrastructure like the Hay River and we ignore it for more than a decade.
It’s ludicrous that we haven’t dealt with this problem.
We’ve been dealing with the Town of Hay River, with NTCL, the shipping company there. They’re interested in being partners, but the GNWT is not interested in being partners. They want to just ignore it and tell us it’s a federal responsibility. Our government needs to take responsibility for dredging in the Hay River area.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Mr. Speaker, I feel like putting my notes aside and following with the same passion as my colleague for Hay River North, but I’m not feeling well today so I’m afraid it wouldn’t come across with as much gusto.
I’m going to tag team with my colleague here today and reiterate again that Hay River is a transportation hub right on the south shore of Great Slave Lake and at the mouth of the Hay River itself. Once upon a time, the federal government met its responsibility for dredging, but that practice was discontinued in 1994. They sold all of their equipment. Since that time no one has taken up responsibility, even though the waterways have continued to be used. Our harbour is used by tug and barge operators, by the Canadian Coast Guard, by the commercial fishermen and by recreational boaters. Let’s not forget, as my colleague for Hay River North has said before in this House, that the Hay River Flood Mitigation Committee has identified dredging as an option and a proactive approach to the annual threat of flooding in Hay River.
I can tell you what’s happened in terms of dredging in the Hay River port since the federal program was discontinued more than 20 years ago. Nothing! Basically, we walked off a cliff. We went from annual dredging – annual dredging – to absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, responsibility for the dredging is passed around like a political football. That response no longer cuts it with the residents of Hay River. We need to see decisive action taken.
The town is looking to this government for some assistance. If I said it before, I’ll say it again, it’s affecting our people and it’s affecting our industry, and even if it is not technically or hasn’t technically been our responsibility, it’s having real impacts on the people, the livelihoods and the supply chains out of Hay River.
Lack of action on this issue undermines the spirit and soul of our community. The harbour in Hay River is the lifeblood of why that community is there. We’ve continued to press for action, and we’ve talked about pushing and partnering with the federal government and about taking action as a territory, and we’ve talked about accessing funds from the National Disaster Mitigation Program. In the life of this Assembly alone, we’d hoped for a new federal plan in 2014, heard promises of territorial budget commitment, but this plan has still not come through and still the harbour hasn’t been dealt with. The Department of Transportation’s new 25-year plan barely even mentions dredging.
Hay River is the second largest community in the Northwest Territories. Surely it’s time to do something. When it comes to question period, I’m going to ask questions but also throw in a few suggestions.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
