Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are builders in the North. The North is building itself, and now we are living in interesting times. We just completed the Deh Cho Bridge and we’re nearing completion of the Devolution Agreement. Now our eyes are focused on the Mackenzie Valley Highway. I am pleased to be able to provide my support for the Mackenzie Valley Highway and also for the Tuk-Inuvik road.
I know that the leadership in the Mackenzie Beaufort region has worked hard for many years and worked with both governments to make this project a reality. I believe this project will benefit the residents of the region, but I also believe it will benefit all people in the Northwest Territories and Canada as a whole, most importantly for us in the Sahtu. We are confident that if this project is successful, then other highway projects in our own region will follow and also will be successful.
The Inuvik to Tuk highway will provide residents in the region with a year-round link to the South and help reduce the cost of living in the communities such as Tuktoyaktuk. It will also allow residents better access to health care, education, recreation and other government services. Very importantly, it will reduce the cost of providing such services in the region by our own government. We’re all aware that this region is depressed economically and this project will provide an important economic boost. It will establish infrastructure that will stimulate economic development in the region. We all know there are major discovered hydrocarbon resources in the Beaufort Sea, and that a year-round link by road to the Beaufort will greatly increase the likelihood of such projects to proceed.
Economic development in this region will benefit all of us in the Northwest Territories. Having grown up in a small, isolated Aboriginal community, I can acknowledge how costly and difficult it is to obtain the basic goods, supplies and services in our communities such as Tulita, Deline, Colville, Fort Good Hope and Norman Wells. This is why many of us in the Sahtu are extremely supportive of building the public infrastructure, and particularly would like to see the construction of the Bear River Bridge and the Mackenzie Highway.
The recent decision by the federal government to invest this amount of money into the North is unprecedented. It is a sign that Canada is willing to again build infrastructure in the North, and we in the Sahtu believe that if we are successful in working with the federal government to build the Inuvik-Tuk highway, then it will pave a way for Canada to work with us to follow with this project by constructing the Mackenzie Valley Highway.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Completing the highway and connecting Canada from coast to coast to coast will be a big boost to all Canadians in establishing a year-round transportation link to our Arctic coastline. It will also be a major step to protect our Canadian sovereignty. We think it will lead to further investments in other regions such as the Sahtu.
I am very pleased to be able to support this project. Truly, we stand here and say the North was built by Northerners and will continue to be built by our own people in the future. We have a dream.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
