Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On March 9, 1993, I questioned Mr. Todd about the objectives of our transportation strategy. Several colleagues were upset over a radio broadcast of March 10 which indicated I was against the building of the Mackenzie Valley highway. Anyone who reads the transcripts for that day will know I did not say the Mackenzie Valley highway should not be built. In fact, I believe the Mackenzie Valley highway should be built and my views have not changed since 1972.
The point I want to make is this, in the 1970s there was a proposal to build a 48 inch natural gas pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley at a cost of $5 billion. Because there was a continental energy crisis, the price of oil had shot up dramatically. To get support for a pipeline, federal funds were allocated for the building of highway and we all remember the work of Hire North from those days. When the energy crisis was over and a small six inch oil pipeline was built from Norman Wells to Zama Lake the highway was suddenly forgotten. The pursuit of a gas pipeline was put on hold.
The building of new roads and highways in the Northwest Territories is a federal responsibility, Mr. Speaker. They will be built if they are in the federal government's interest, which usually means roads to resources to serve national, continental or international interests. As a government, Mr. Speaker, our prime objective should be roads which reduces the cost of moving goods, services and people, to encourage inter-settlement economic activity and to encourage tourism. In other words, to reduce the cost of living for our people and to improve the quality of life.
Our strategy should be always to keep in mind that federal objectives in new road construction may not be the same as our own. The point I tried to make to Mr. Todd is that we must always keep our objectives in front of us. We do not control new road construction. If the next new road is from Izok Lake to the Coronation Gulf, we should not invest our limited resources in it if it does not serve the interests of the people we represent.
If you read Hansard you will find, Mr. Todd did change his mind and state that objectives are important. I regret the confusion my remarks may have, in fact, caused. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause