Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to use this opportunity to follow up on my Member’s statement, which was in whole about the Inuvik-Tuk highway and some of the costs and components thereof. I guess my first question is: When will a plain-language document be available for the public to see that actually specifies and drills down what the project is and what the actual costing estimates are? That way we will have something to debate and discuss publicly before an actual vote happens in the House.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. David Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the public’s consumption, there’s the EIRB report that was out on the 25th of January. We’re waiting for funding approvals and project approvals through the federal government. We look forward to getting those in due course. There’s a process that has to be followed and we intend to follow the process.
I think that report hedged around a $300 million figure. Is that the actual cost that we will be working from on a construction basis, and is that the figure that the public can be referring to the Inuvik-Tuk highway as the actual cost?
We haven’t got a formal funding agreement with the federal government in place yet. At the earliest opportunity – I just signed a letter late last week – we’re going to be in front of the Member’s Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure as soon as possible to give his committee a full briefing on the project and next steps.
One of the critical components that has been referred to as part of the cost of this potential highway – and, of course, the final decision has yet to be made – is the royalty required by the regional government. Is an actual number pegged to what the royalty is, and why is the Government of the Northwest Territories paying for a royalty when we’ve made a concession on the road as being transferred for land and other options and we’re actually paying for the gravel? Will there be a royalty attached to the final figure of this highway and how much, if so?
Through the Inuvialuit settlement, the land claim agreement that the Inuvialuit have, they have provisions for granular royalties paid to the Inuvialuit. That is something that is in the land claim. That is something that we continue to look at negotiating, both the royalty rate and the land tenure for the highway itself. Those discussions continue to be ongoing.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From what I’ve been hearing on the ground, is an actual royalty rate has been negotiated and signed off between the territorial government and the IRC. I have yet to hear what that final number is and I think the public deserves to know. Also, why isn’t the government negotiating a zero royalty considering two things: first of all, this road is, in essence, at the request of people in that region, which I think is a reasonable request per se, but by the same token will this philosophy apply to every single new highway established here? Are we setting a dangerous precedent when we consider the Mackenzie Valley Highway, the Tlicho winter road alignment and so on?
I just want to let the Member know, and other Members know, that we haven’t signed off on the royalty rate, we haven’t signed off on land tenure. Those are discussions that continue to be ongoing with the Inuvialuit, and we hope to conclude those discussions and negotiations with them very soon.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
