Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to speak about investment into Highway No. 7 or the lack thereof. My residents and constituents are disappointed that Highway No. 7 is nowhere on the GNWT’s fiscal roadmap this coming year. Residents know that the highway infrastructure is key to economic development in the Nahendeh region. Recently re-elected Chief Deneron heard this very clearly during his campaign. The road conditions isolate the people of Fort Liard. It is easier to drive to B.C. for goods and services than to Fort Simpson. By leaving Highway No. 7 out of its plans, dollars flow out of the North down a smoother highway.
As well, why is the number of tourists in the Deh Cho region down 30 percent from last year? The parks in the Deh Cho are some of the best in Western Canada. In the not so distant past, six tour buses travelled Highway No. 7 every season down to Fort Simpson. That number is down to zero now.
We can blame the economy for the lack of dollars for investment, but the economy looks a lot better than our highway. The Government of the Northwest Territories is making significant investments in tourism. The effort to attract more visitors to the NWT is getting noticed, but it is hard to promote our territory when visitors arrive and find the chipseal has turned to chowder. There is no sense in investing in tourism if we lack adequate road infrastructure to get here.
I just want to note, as well, I was paying much attention to the Finance Minister’s fiscal and economic update earlier today. If we do get some money to increase our borrowing limit, he is going to invest in a certain amount of projects, but nowhere does he mention Highway No. 7. That is disheartening, especially when in Committee of the Whole he said that it will be red-flagged and won’t end up on the red flag B list, which means that I believe in his statement Highway No. 7 should have been there. It continues to be a priority of this government because Highway No. 7 is an important link to Western Canada. The longer we ignore it, the more expensive it gets. Mahsi cho.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
