Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for over 30 years the people of Fort Smith have had as a dream another southern access through the Wood Buffalo National Park down to Garden River and Vermilion and south.
Mr. Speaker, recently, thanks to the hard work and the understanding of Minister Copps, the federal government and our MP Ethel Blondin, and the hard work of the Thebacha Road Society and Mayor Martselos, approvals were received from Parks Canada for the road right of way and to begin construction. Unfortunately, as tends to occur in these kinds of situations, there was a court challenge by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. It was to the good fortune of the road society and the people of Fort Smith that the court ruled in favour of the Thebacha Road Society and Minister Copps, that they had made the right decision, they had done all the things necessary so that the road should proceed.
Mr. Speaker, there is one more legal hurdle to be surmounted. Hopefully that will be done this week, after which there are people trained and ready in Fort Smith and in Garden River to begin the brushing. There are the temporary bailey bridges ready, and hopefully this winter we will have, after 30 some years, a road through the park, at least on a temporary winter basis.
I would like to commend all the people for their perseverance, hard work and dedication on this issue. It has been a very frustrating and slow process. The wheels of government grind slow and fine and in this case, this proved to be true yet again.
Mr. Speaker, once this road is through, then we as a community will be able to turn our attention to other valuable links that need development. Those are our links to Fort Chipewayan and Fort McMurray. This is going to be a good news story for this winter. There has been a lot of work done and many people deserve credit. Soon, the dream will come true. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause