Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will talk for a moment that the Minister of Transportation was going to announce the Tuk-Inuvik highway funding.
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Mr. Speaker, with the escalating cost now to $16.2 billion reported yesterday for the construction of the projected forecast start date by 2014 of the Mackenzie gas project, this government needs to look at alternatives to promote economic development in the Beaufort-Delta.
Mr. Speaker, the annual construction of the 200-kilometre ice road between Tuk and Inuvik is a blessing for the community of Tuktoyaktuk because it enables residents to visit friends and grocery shop. We know it costs an average of $400,000 a year to construct and maintain this ice road. This brings me to raise the construction of a 22-kilometre access road to source 177 and the all-weather road between Tuk and Inuvik.
I first heard of the Tuk-Inuvik highway in 1978 as a hamlet councillor in Tuk. Mr. Speaker, construction of the 22-kilometre access road to source 177 and the Tuk-Inuvik highway will bring economic and municipal benefits to local businesses and contractors for the community of Tuktoyaktuk and the eventual Inuvik businesses and contractors if the federal government can provide funds for the construction of the Tuk-Inuvik highway. I say this because it is a long-term municipal requirement of the Hamlet of Tuk by way of access to a new landfill site, potential water source and a year-round gravel source for the community and will provide employment for the people in the Beaufort-Delta.
Mr. Speaker, I know the construction of new highways is a federal responsibility, and I appreciate the efforts of our Premier and the Minister of Transportation for the Mackenzie Valley and the Inuvik-Tuk highway through the documents, Connecting Canada from Coast to Coast to Coast and Corridors of Canada, II. Acknowledgement of these documents by the federal and territorial governments is one thing, but in order for it to become a reality, the construction of the access road to source 177 and the Tuk-Inuvik highway, we need to access funds and hope they will be included and identified in the upcoming budget. If not, I may have to take my colleague's advice, the Honourable Mr. Robert McLeod, and invite the Minister of Transportation and request to purchase two picks, two shovels and one quad so we can start the highway. Mr. Speaker, I would like to request unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.