Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for recognizing me here. We heard in the news that the federal government has put the Mackenzie Valley project on the backburner. Can the Minister please explain why we have to hear about this in the news and not through the normal process? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Transportation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department drafted a letter to inform the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure of the federal government's decision to temporarily suspend the Mackenzie Valley Highway funding proposal. Unfortunately, the correspondence was delayed to Committee.
I appreciate the importance of keeping Members informed on decisions around the federal infrastructure funding and have taken steps to ensure decisions are communicated in a timely manner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for his answer. I guess we are going to have to work on our mail service here in the Legislative Assembly so that we can actually get these documents on time instead of through the news.
Can the Minister confirm if the federal government has not put this just on hold or the backburner and when did he find out if it has been put there?
The federal government has informed us that the review of the Mackenzie Valley Highway project proposal under the new Building Canada Fund national infrastructure component has been temporarily suspended until the federal government makes a decision on phase two of the capital infrastructure money, their long-term plan. Phase two planning fund is expected to be announced early next year in communicating the temporary suspension of the Mackenzie Valley Highway project.
The federal government indicated the desire to align such projects with the Minister of Infrastructure and communities' mandate, which includes strategic projects such as transportation corridors, ports, borders, gateways, etc. The Mackenzie Valley Highway project, as the House knows, is a key strategic transportation corridor, and we have reminded Minister Sohi of the importance of this project as well as other priority transportation corridors in Northwest Territories.
I thank the Minister for his answer. I am thankful he is actually promoting this. Can the Minister please say what type of promotion, besides just talking to him? Has there been a business study that they have presented to him or anything like that?
One of the priority actions outlined in the mandate of the Assembly is to capture opportunities to invest in transportation and infrastructure by working to secure funding to advance the Mackenzie Valley highway, the all-weather road to Whati, and to improve access to the Slave geological province. I can assure the House and Members that I am taking every opportunity to encourage and invest – investment in the key of these three corridors. I personally met with Minister Sohi in the federal department to talk about this as well as Minister Garneau to reiterate the importance of the corridors to Northerners and the Mackenzie Valley Highway Project and the need for federal investment.
My communications with Minister Sohi have focused on the need for phase two funding under the long-term federal infrastructure plan to address the infrastructure deficit in the North and, in particular, the need to advance the three priority corridors including the Mackenzie Valley Highway. We have also submitted to Minister Garneau in support of implementation recommendations to the North made in the CTA report panel, which we always talk about every time we have a chance to meet federal Ministers. I will continue to bring this to the federal Ministers in promoting the Mackenzie Valley Highway.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi cho to the Minister for his answer. Will the Minister please commit to provide us on this side a quarterly or bi-annual report on the status of this project so we don't lose it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
What I can do is commit to provide updates on the Mackenzie Valley Highway project as they become available to us. I will commit to providing them to the Members as they come in.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
