Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be talking on behalf of my community of Lutselk’e in regards to a service. [Translation ends]
I speak of a winter road. A winter road to Lutselk’e will provide a service to their citizens that are enjoyed by 29 of the 33 communities in the Northwest Territories. That enjoyment is the ability for those communities to access their communities with their personal vehicles.
Where possible, I feel that this government should provide a road that can be used by community members to lower the cost of living by buying goods in larger centres and opening a door for tourists, even allowing the community to hold revenue-generating events such as fishing derbies. While the majority of the NWT wish to have better highways leading to their communities, communities like Lutselk’e dream of some day when they will no longer be isolated and can drive on winter roads to and from their communities.
As it stands today, the people of Lutselk’e are limited to even what kind of furniture they can buy due to transportation, and the amount of food they can transport to their communities due to freight costs or limited space when they can only use snowmobiles and boats.
Members of Lutselk’e have even indicated they would work with the Department of Transportation on a route and construction of the road. There exists several options for routing of a winter road to Lutselk’e. I have been provided with options such as coming off of the Ingraham Trail or building a road through the bush to the Great Slave Lake across from Lutselk’e all the way to building all the way on the Great Slave Lake around to Lutselk’e and a couple of options in between.
A winter road to Lutselk’e is much needed and would be much appreciated by the people of Lutselk’e and I will have questions for the Minister of Transportation at the appropriate time.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
