Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to speak to you about the Trans-Canada Trail, one of Canada's millennium projects. This project will establish 16,000 kilometres of trail from coast to coast to coast. The NWT Recreation and Parks Association is working with local communities, government departments and the Trans-Canada Trail Foundation to develop the trail in the NWT.
Mr. Speaker, I was asked to lend my support, on behalf of this government, to the designation of the Northwest Territories sections of the Trans-Canada Trail. These sections reflect the traditional and modern aspects of our transportation heritage in the Northwest Territories. The first section of the trail follows the Mackenzie River from Fort Providence at Great Slave Lake to Tuktoyaktuk on the Beaufort Sea. This is the territory's natural and historic transportation route. The other section is the Dempster Highway from the Yukon Border to Inuvik representing our modern transportation system.
The NWT Recreation and Parks Association is also planning the grand opening of the Trans-Canada Trail with an event called Relay 2000. The trailhead in Tuktoyaktuk will be the official start point of the relay. Water will be taken from the Arctic Ocean on February 19, 2000 and will be relayed along the Mackenzie River. Water will also be drawn in a similar fashion from the two other trailheads on the west and east coasts of Canada. A ceremony was held will be held in Hull, Quebec on September 9, 2000 to commemorate the end of Relay 2000 and the official opening of the Trans-Canada Trail.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive rule 34(6) so that all Ministers' statements filed with the Clerk can be delivered today. Thank you.