Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, back in April, the Legislative Assembly played host to youth from across the Northwest Territories for our annual Youth Parliament, something I look forward to every year as we get to hear voices from youth and to hear what they feel is important to the next generation.
The following words in my Member's statement today are those that were written and read in this Legislature by Kagen Ball who represented Yellowknife South as the Minister responsible for Infrastructure.
Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about plans for the Mackenzie Valley Highway. The Mackenzie Valley Highway is a project that has been talked about for decades and will connect the Northwest Territories providing the possible expansion of communities and an increased stability to resupply those communities. So far in the project, 40 of the 42 bridges have been completed, and it is in the coming construction season we will begin construction on both remaining bridges. The planned distance for the highway is only going to be from Wrigley to Norman Wells, but once this project is completed it will be expanded to cover the communities and towns all the way up the highway, InuvikTuktoyaktuk Highway.
This highway will give vital allseason supply routes to the smaller communities without the need to worry about low water levels where the barges might get stuck or how the big airport or landing strip for the supply planes is to land on, and it will help with further development and reclamation of old projects and infrastructure. My main focus with this project is connecting the Northwest Territories and giving the necessary supplies and assistance to communities that are currently hard to reach without large shortterm investments, such as for crews and fuel for the barges and the planes that resupply communities along the Mackenzie Valley and further.
Another concern that is driving my wanting to focus on this project is climate change and how it is causing disruptions in the resupply routes through wildfire, low water levels that I mentioned in my concerns about the barges, melting permafrost, damaging the airports, and more. This highway will eliminate some of the problems faced by the existing resupply routes.
I know that for a few more years while we continue to work on this road, we will need to use the barges and planes to resupply unconnected communities, but the highway will connect them and eliminate the need for current methods used to resupply the communities along that route. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Kaegan for letting me bring his voice, once again, to the halls of this legislature. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife South. Members' statements.
