Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to talk a bit about the department's new transportation strategy, Investing in Roads for People and the Economy. I have had a chance, since it has been tabled, to go through the document and have a look at the various different sections there. There are things, Mr. Speaker, that I agree with and there are certainly some things that I do not agree with. I would like to point out one of the things that really irks me with this document, Mr. Speaker.
When we get to the action plan, number 6, one of the things we are suggesting is that we pursue additional federal funding for the Mackenzie Highway extension under the Non-Renewable Resource Development Strategy. It sounds fine, but when we get into the meat of this issue, it is suggested that the development of new roads in the Northwest Territories is an acknowledged federal responsibility. The federal government also reaps the majority of royalty and tax benefits from developments in the Northwest Territories.
I see where we are going with this, Mr. Speaker, and I agree we want somebody else to pay for the roads, but I think this is backwards logic, and I think that it is important that we argue that we need provincial-like authority in this area. We do not want to say to the feds, "You people want to drag the diamonds out of here, they are your diamonds, you go and build the roads." I worry that is in effect what we are saying, Mr. Speaker. I really think that we have got to say to these people, "You know, we will handle this. We will build the roads when you give us control of these resources. We need the royalties and the tax benefits from these resources for our people here." Both the public government and the aboriginal governments should be the ones controlling these resources. It troubles me when the department has a strategy that suggests, well, that is somebody else's problem, they own the resources anyway.
Today, Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for Minister Steen about the highway strategy, but I just wanted to raise this point to let him know that I certainly do not accept or appreciate this approach. Thank you.