Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that the Minister calls it a priority. My only concern is, is it a priority of one out of thousands, or one out of 10, or one out of five? The reason I say this is because it was good to hear him say words like legacy project. This Mackenzie gas project is going to be one of our wonderful opportunities to create tripartite agreements between federal funding opportunities, industry opportunities, as well as territorial opportunities to link our communities year-round. I wouldn't fathom to guess how many trucks will be driving up and down the road between Wrigley to Inuvik, but I will say there will be a lot.
That being said, the Tuk-Inuvik highway is still a critical issue specifically for that region. You have, for example, Tuktoyaktuk that has no gravel source and yet gravel is only 20 kilometres away. I don't think Mr. Pokiak's point was to do the whole highway all in one jump, but I think we need a formal strategic priority and plan that addresses that, because within 20 kilometres away, we need that special asset called gravel. That is a key to that community. So if we could work towards meeting that 20-kilometre initiative by saying we can start it and truly we will not accomplish it in one year, but we need to start the project and get it moving forward. In my colleague's words, he demonstrates that we spend hundreds of thousands on ice roads every year that just melt away. It's an investment that doesn't last. This is a type of legacy project. I would like to hear today that you will consult this side of the House about support for legacy projects that go from Wrigley all the way to Tuk, because that will connect our communities permanently. I agree with you, it is a federal responsibility and I won't assume it isn't; but
along those access points, once we establish a firm highway, a lot of economic opportunity can then be reborn. This Mackenzie project is a window of 20 to 25 years. This is the next project. Once we open up those corridors, we can look at what's going to come on the heels of this one. Once we open up those year-round opportunities for people to explore those areas, we can have a lot of development for many years and spread out the boom and bust economy.
Can I get some commitment from this Minister, although it's not in this budget, that he will consult with this side of the House about treating it as a significant priority? I think there are many Members on this side who would like to see those goat trails of highways we had north of Wrigley become true infrastructure and this is our opportunity to have industry, the federal government, as well as this side of the House on board and for creating true infrastructure for benefiting all our citizens year-round. Can we get that type of commitment from the Minister? Thank you, Madam Chair.