Thank you. Total buildings and works, $385,000. Agreed?
Debates of May 16th, 1996
Topics
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 456
The Chair John Ningark
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
May 16th, 1996
Page 456
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
--- Agreed
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 456
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Steen.
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 456
Vince Steen Nunakput
Mr. Chairman, I raised my hand at the total figure for the total region for Fort Smith at $385,000. I would like to speak to that figure.
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 456
The Chair John Ningark
Mr. Steen, we have not called the total region for headquarters. You can still speak to the Fort Smith region.
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 456
Vince Steen Nunakput
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I recall last fall asking the Minister in the House if this government had any responsibility for building roads and highways and if they could possibly consider one between Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik. If I recall correctly, the response was that it was not the responsibility of this government to build roads. Why am I seeing all of these roads in this budget?
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 456
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Access roads, Mr. Minister.
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 456
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The intention of the access road program was to try and accommodate communities that wanted to have access to the surrounding areas, their hunting areas. It has become a very popular program. The amount is not that much at the present time. Every year there are more and more requests. What this access road has done is provide the funds directly to some of the municipalities to utilize and start putting trails into their hunting areas, perhaps even good tour sites. The response which I gave the honourable Member in the fall was to address his concern of putting a major infrastructure in the Delta to connect Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk. At the present time, the amount to cover it in this area is quite substantial. There have been feasibility studies conducted which put it into the $150 million to $160 million range. The federal government has responsibility in this price range to do a major highway system. The access road is on a much smaller scale. If you look at the Jean Marie River access roads, it's been in the works for some time. It's been approved by previous governments to complete the road. That would probably be the last big expenditure in this particular access road program.
I don't know whether this answer satisfies the honourable Member. The reply I provided to him was for quite a larger amount of money than what we are talking about in the access road program. Yes, we have funds to put in access road. Many communities have utilized this and more and more communities are requesting this access road program.
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 456
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Total region. Mr. Steen.
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 456
Vince Steen Nunakput
Mr. Chairman, I recall reading in the five-year capital plan the justification for this funding was to bring this particular access road up to all-weather road standards and, therefore, it would become an all-weather road. It seems to me that an all-weather road to Jean Marie River is the same as an all-weather road from Tuktoyaktuk to Inuvik except that one is a little longer than the other. I understand that Jean Marie River is 27 miles long. How long does a road have to be before it quits being an access road and becomes a highway?
I totally support this type of program and the idea of changing transportation of our highway into our access road if we can get it built. I understand the system and I understand that the government will benefit, because once the all-weather road is in place to Jean Marie River, obviously you would have no more winter road costs. But that is exactly the same thing my people want to do -- do away with the winter road, if possible, and switch to an all weather road -but we believe we have a lot more justification for the request because we have a population of 1,000 plus. We have thousands of tourists every summer, but they all fly in. We believe that the justification is there for the highway or the access road, whatever you want to call it. I prefer access road seeing as now you have money for it. But the point of all this is that I believe that all communities should have the ability to access this program, and I encourage the department to put more money into the thing. If it creates jobs, if it creates training for the communities, I am definitely 100 per cent in support of the program. If they can tie in with Arctic College programs, I support that 100 per cent.
I guess my point is that if it is good enough for one community to call it an access road, well, then we should call them all access roads. I think we heard from the federal representative, Ethel Blondin, not too long ago, that the federal government has no intention of building any more roads up in this country, so it's our responsibility to do it. I believe that we are supposed to be taking over responsibility from the federal government, so I support your department in continuing this program, with a bigger budget, provided it is available to all communities and it creates work and gets people off of welfare. Thank you.
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Minister, did you want to respond?
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank the honourable Member for the support. What this particular access road program has done is provide employment to the communities, and, in conjunction with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, it has consulted with them with respect to providing a training course on the equipment operations in the communities. So not only has this particular project built an all-weather road to connect them to the highway, but it also provided training to people in the community, it provided employment and it provided work for the equipment that is there. This was done in conjunction with the Department of Transportation management. It has been a very successful program.
I like what the honourable Member is suggesting, that we look at this as an example of how construction in other areas could happen. I think that's a direction we would try to go because it provides employment to people in the community, and it provides jobs for the construction equipment. Overall, you have a very positive outcome at the end. Thank you.
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Total region, Fort Smith area, $385,000.
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
--- Agreed
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
The Chair John Ningark
Total buildings and works, $385,000.
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
--- Agreed
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
The Chair John Ningark
Contributions, headquarters, total region, $30,000.
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
--- Agreed
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
--- Agreed
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
---Agreed
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
--- Agreed
Committee Report 3-13(3): Standing Committee On Resource Management And Development Report On The Review Of The 1996-97 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 457