Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I am speaking on the community of Tuktoyaktuk and the shoreline erosion problems that we are having in the community. The shoreline has been in the national news, Mr. Speaker. This government has to help the community deal with the problem which is going to take a lot of work and resources over a period of time.
In my lifetime, I have seen a lot of coastline disappear. Areas where there used to be cabins are now under water. A couple of times a year with high west winds the sea floods the roads on one end of town where the swimming pool and the youth centre is. One of the reasons erosion happens so fast in Tuk is that it is built on a very thick layer of permafrost. The warming climate change, rising sea waters and bigger storms are doing a lot of damage. We are lucky we didn’t have one this past summer, otherwise the breach in the shoreline that we are having, it would have breached.
The town’s policy is to build the structure further inland but we have to...these important buildings at risk including the RCMP station and their six units, our fire hall, the Glad Tidings Church, our former old folk’s home, 31 units in total and the house of one former MLA, Mr. Vince Steen’s unit, the breach is right in front of his house.
Mr. Speaker, we need a long-term plan for the community of Tuk before it is too late. Right now we have to protect the shoreline. But sometime years ago the community placed concrete slabs on the outer peninsula, which helped a bit, but we need to extend the deficiencies about three-quarters of a mile, Mr. Speaker. The rock has to be done this year and I’ll be asking for extraordinary funding at the appropriate time. We started this job years ago, but funding was cut off and the job remains unfinished, Mr. Speaker. If we don’t do this soon, Tuktoyaktuk, its very foundation will wash away. Fortifying the peninsula would give this government and the community time to come up with a long-term plan.
Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister of Community Affairs questions later today. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
