Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, firstly I would like to welcome all the Members back to the Legislative Assembly for this spring session. Spring is here and the buzz is in the air in Nahendeh, and the buzz is not that spring came early, but it’s about the recent announcement the Premier made regarding $50 million for the extension of the highway along the Ingraham Trail. More and more I’m hearing it being referred to as Joe’s highway.
---Laughter
Mr. Speaker, I’m not against infrastructure enhancement or expansion in other regions of the Northwest Territories. Regional and community leadership and residents of Nahendeh have expressed the concern that previous and current transportation initiatives that were committed to by this government should be honoured and completed before other projects are considered. Highways No. 1 and No. 7 are critical transportation routes that need all the funding they can get. Communities and regions worked long and hard to acquire the funding and commitment from this government for badly needed transportation infrastructure, enhancement, or expansions. Recently, the honourable Minister of Transportation was placed between a rock and a hard place and had to make a difficult decision. The option that he chose was to transfer $1 million from the Nahendeh to the Sahtu. Both highway projects have been in the works for quite some time and very important to the regions. We should not be robbing Peter for Paul, or, in this case, Kevin for Norman…
---Laughter
…if we have the financial capacity. The Premier’s political statement is sending a message that this Ingraham work is a priority of this administration. This also means that we will have an additional competition of an already scarce and overstretched budget. As activities and commerce increase, not just in specific areas of the Northwest Territories but in all regions, so too must infrastructure enhancements and expansion dollars. This is critical to progressive development in the regional capacity building, something this government has expressed support for time and time again.
In closing, this government must complete planned projects long before new ones are initiated, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi cho.
---Applause
