Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Tony Whitford, is his capacity as Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, and myself had the pleasure, yesterday afternoon, of attending a ribbon cutting ceremony in Lac La Martre, to officially open the new Lac La Martre airport runway.
The ribbon cutting took place right next to the new runway and was officially cut by the oldest resident of Lac La Martre, Mrs. Helen Rabesca, who I believe, is over 100 years old.
The completion of this project leaves two communities, in my riding, to have airports, Snare Lake and Rae-Edzo. Accordingly, Mr. Speaker, the government's next priority is to construct an airport for Snare Lake, and as I understand it, the government is also currently working with the Hamlet of Rae-Edzo on a feasibility study for an airport there.
Mr. Speaker, in my opinion the importance of an adequate and fully functional transportation infrastructure for economic and political development cannot be overstated. An adequate transportation system is one of the key factors that will enable the Dogrib people to further their objectives in the area of land claims, self-government, and the development of an integrated industrial strategy for the North Slave region.
Year round access to communities in the North Slave region, outside Rae-Edzo, is by air travel alone. That is our only lifeline to the outside world, our means of moving people, goods, material is by air. The Department of Transportation made it very clear in their transportation strategy of the interdependence of transportation and political and economic development.
Without an adequate transportation system in the North Slave region, our objective of developing a viable self-supporting economy will not be possible. Without a strong economic base, our objective of developing self-government institutions, will only be a dream. Economic and political development go hand in hand, Mr. Speaker. A rational transportation is the means by which the development can move forward. Mahsi.