Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the construction of an all-weather road through the Mackenzie Valley to the Arctic Coast has been a priority since the 1950s. The vision was born out of the federal recognition that northern transportation infrastructure was required to build the nation’s economy and support Canada’s sovereignty.

In 1972, Canada began constructing the Mackenzie Valley Highway. Extensive construction, survey, environmental and design work was carried out until 1976. One of the department’s current employees, Mr. Joe Cooke from Inuvik, was on the field crew working north surveying the alignment. He actually drove the final survey stake into the ground when they reached the connection with the Dempster Highway.

Mr. Speaker, this was a time of great hope and potential for the North and the nation. Unfortunately, it was overshadowed by increasing uncertainty regarding oil and gas development potential and escalating political and legal issues at the time. In 1977, following the release of the Berger inquiry, a moratorium on the oil and gas development, construction was halted and the federal government abandoned the route just 18 kilometres south of Wrigley.

The federal vision of a highway through the Mackenzie Valley has been carried forward as a Department of Transportation and GNWT priority

since the department’s first Transportation Strategy in 1990. The Mackenzie Valley Highway was reaffirmed in subsequent highway strategy documents including the Department of Transportation’s 2000 strategy, Investing in Roads for People and the Economy; the National Transportation Strategy, Looking to the Future, developed in 2005; and, the more recent Pan-northern Transportation Strategy released during the 16th Assembly, Northern Connections. It also

has been identified as a priority of this government; reinforced by its inclusion within the government’s strategic initiatives.

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, a strategy can only be fully realized if the necessary implementation funding is available. In an effort to secure federal funding, the department developed Corridors for Canada in 2002 and Corridors for Canada II in 2005. These proposals resulted in an investment of more than $41 million into the Mackenzie Valley winter road bridge and grade improvements. In 2006, the department also developed a stand-alone federal partnership funding proposal for the construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway titled Connecting Canada: Coast to Coast to Coast. Connecting Canada received positive media coverage and public statements of support from the Chamber of Commerce, the NWT Business Coalition, community leaders and members of the public; however, it has not yet resulted in federal funding or partnership commitments to complete the route.

Mr. Speaker, while new road construction in the Territory remains a federal responsibility, the GNWT has not just been sitting back waiting for the federal government to finish this highway. The department has been making considerable progress. In 1995, the department completed the all-weather road as far as Wrigley and commenced operation of the Ndulee ferry. Beginning in 2001, through a funding partnership with INAC and through the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund, the department has invested in grade improvements and permanent bridge construction on the Mackenzie Valley winter road. These bridges have dramatically extended and stabilized the winter road season and reduced the environmental and safety risks associated with ice crossing construction. These improvements will ultimately

serve the future all-weather highway. A total of 37 bridges will soon be completed. The only outstanding major bridge will be at the Bear River crossing.

The department has also begun the construction of an access road from Tuktoyaktuk to source 177. The Tuktoyaktuk gravel access road marks a major step towards our long-term goal of a Mackenzie Valley Highway. This could become the first 19 kilometres of an all-weather Mackenzie Highway connecting from the Arctic Coast.

Mr. Speaker, this government plans to continue working towards the goal of connecting the Mackenzie Valley up to the Arctic Coast. New investment of $16 million on the Mackenzie Valley Winter Road is planned through the Reducing the Cost of Living Strategic Initiative. Additional investment could also flow from the recently announced federal economic stimulus package.

Aside from the major infrastructure improvements, planning and research work for the Mackenzie Valley Highway is also underway. We are currently finalizing an economic analysis which will update and quantify the benefits of constructing the route. Through the Reducing the Cost of Living Strategic Initiative, investments, substantial environmental baseline and socio-economic work valued at $2 million is planned between 2010 and 2012.

Mr. Speaker, within the last 10 years, the department has made significant progress towards the long-term goal of a Mackenzie Valley Highway. While the 2006 Connecting Canada proposal and the corresponding $700 million cost estimate needs some updating, the benefits outlined in the proposal, including reducing the cost of living, facilitating economic and resource development and enhancing Canada’s sovereignty still holds true today as they did 50 years ago.

It has been more than 30 years since the federal government abandoned the route. The political difficulties that impeded the completion of the Mackenzie Valley Highway over three decades ago have improved. There is a renewed interest in oil and gas exploration and development including aboriginal partnership. The recent downturn in the economy only strengthens the impetus to finish the construction of the Mackenzie Highway. Major investments in Canada’s future, investments in both its people and supporting infrastructure will stimulate the economy and position Canada to powerfully emerge from this economic crisis. The benefits of completing the Mackenzie Valley Highway are greater now than ever.

Mr. Speaker, the department will continue to pursue this long-standing priority. We will continue our efforts to partner with the federal government,

aboriginal governments and industry to push this project forward. All Northerners and all Canadians will benefit from a Canada connected from coast to coast to coast. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, every year an average of 455 young workers under the age of 25 are injured on the job in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. These injured young workers represent 17 percent of the established Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission, WSCC, claims.

At noon on March 13, 2009, the WSCC invites the public to join them at the Yellowknife Capitol Theatre to launch their new “Don’t be a Number” TV commercials. The two English commercials feature important stories about two young men who were injured at work when they were only 22 years old. The two Inuktitut commercials feature a young worker from Nunavut who is committed to working safe and “not being a number.” These young workers have willingly shared their stories and hope their message will encourage youth to know their rights and work safe.

I invite Members, employers, labour organizations and the public to join the WSCC in their efforts to empower our northern youth with the necessary knowledge and tools to keep them safe on the job and keep them from not being a number. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, our job as government is to stimulate and maintain a healthy economic environment for our Territory.

During this time of slower economic growth, it is incumbent on us to play a role in counting the impacts of this downturn and, in doing so, protect and sustain the economic capacity and potential that exists in our people, our businesses and our communities.

Recent events have shown that the economy of the Northwest Territories is not immune to the impacts of the current global economic slowdown.

Mr. Speaker, our government must create and maximize economic opportunities for NWT residents by providing access to opportunities and markets and access to credit and capital. Addressing these issues has become an urgent matter, not just in terms of growth but also in terms of viability of our businesses. At the same time, we need to be guided by a strong and healthy working relationship with the Northwest Territories business community.

To that end, Mr. Speaker, and working closely with the president of the Northwest Territories Chamber of Commerce, I am pleased to advise Members of this House of this morning’s inaugural meeting of the Minister’s Advisory Panel on the Economy.

The Minister’s Advisory Panel on the Economy was established in the fall of 2008 to obtain firsthand advice and guidance from the private sector regarding Northwest Territories economic issues. The Ministers Advisory Panel consists of 11 Northerners representing stakeholders from a broad scope of business interests in the Northwest Territories. These include the Northwest Territories and regional chambers of commerce, the Aboriginal Business Association, the Northwest Territories Tourism, the Northwest Territories Construction Association, the Northern Air Transport Association, the Northwest Territories Chamber of Mines and Alternatives North.

In this current economic climate, the advice and guidance that this group of Northerners can provide is more urgently required than ever. This panel will provide a forum in which government, non-government organizations and the private sector can discuss policies, strategies, initiative and other economic development issues. It will play an advisory role to myself and to our government. They will insist in the development of programs and initiatives that will be relevant to our Territory’s business environment and the advancement of economic development in our regions and communities.

Mr. Speaker, I am confident that the first formal meeting of the Minister’s Advisory Panel on the Economy was the beginning of a great vehicle for productive dialogue. More than ever before, there is a need for collaborative effort between the Government of the Northwest Territories and the drivers of economy of this Territory. This panel will provide that vehicle.

If the feedback, insight and engagement, evidenced at this morning’s meeting, is indicative of future

dialogues, I believe we are on the path to success. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, transportation corridors, rail lines, roads, waterways, crisscross the vast reaches of our country. They are our economic lifeblood and connectors of communities. But here in the North, those connectors are woefully inadequate especially for travel from south to north. It’s the responsibility of the federal government to fund these new roads in Canada. We’ve known that for a long time. In fact, way back in 1958 the federal government announced that it would build a Mackenzie Valley Highway north to the coast. The Canadian government actually started construction in 1972 and 210 kilometres were completed, but in 1977 construction stalled and the highway ended 18 kilometres short of Wrigley.

Since then the federal government has been noticeably absent from any responsibility for new NWT highways and that accounts for the lack of a south/north route to connect our communities.

Over the years, the GNWT has had to step into this road construction void. We’ve completed the missing 18 kilometres of the Fort Simpson to Wrigley section of the highway; we’ve built bridges, affected alignments which enhanced the Mackenzie Valley Highway Winter Road and at the same time, year after year, NWT governments have continually requested funding for the completion of the highway from the federal government. But to no avail.

We’ve had the benefit of federal dollars to cost-share some of this work, but it’s to the detriment of our own financial resources. Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Speaker, the federal infrastructure programs are great and I welcome them, but new roads should not be at the expense of the GNWT.

Where is the Government of Canada in fulfilling their duty in constructing the roads to the North’s resources? Nowhere to be seen, I have to say. We need the federal government to stand up and be counted to accept their responsibility to the people of the North and the people of Canada and to provide the dollars necessary to complete the

Mackenzie Valley Highway and connect the North to the southern part of Canada.

Our communities need this highway, Mr. Speaker. Our government needs it, our economy needs it. It’s time for the federal government to see the same need. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to take a little bit different tack on the Mackenzie Valley Highway proposal today. CBC Radio has recently been running a series of shows called How They Got Here. I want to tell you how highway infrastructure played a deciding role in my coming to the Northwest Territories.

As a student sitting in a Grade 12 geography class in a small town in south-western Ontario, I looked at an Atlas, I looked at a map of Canada, I thought about leaving home and where I would like to go. In Ontario, where I come from, there is a community about every five kilometres, so the thought of isolation wasn’t something that particularly was common to me. But I thought the North would be isolated. When I looked at the map and I saw that rail line and I saw that highway that went straight from Alberta to Hay River, Northwest Territories, I decided that was the place that I wanted to go.

The psychology of isolation is not something that I fully understand, but I do wonder how it impacts people who do live in the North who have very few exit options. The cost of air transport for communities that are cut off from any highway system is very prohibitive to people leaving. In my 35 years in Hay River I can’t really say that I have actually flown out of Hay River very many times, but it was somewhat reassuring to me to know that there was that daily jet service if I did want to leave. But I think people in small communities look at that airplane and no road and if it’s cost prohibitive I think it does play a part in...I think it can be discouraging to people and make them sometimes feel that if they did want to go someplace, it’s kind of hopeless.

In terms of attracting people to come to small, isolated communities -- that is supposing that you want more people like me in the Northwest Territories -- I think it’s a very interesting thought indeed as to how a Mackenzie Valley Highway would change people’s thoughts about coming into the further reaches of the North.

The benefits of a Mackenzie Valley Highway would be immense. All Members today are going to speak to that. The opportunity at this particular time to consider an undertaking of infrastructure such as this nature could only be a good thing and I will support all endeavours and pursuits of such a highway.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Like my colleagues, I, too, will stand up here today to talk about the benefits of constructing a Mackenzie Valley Highway from Wrigley to Tuktoyaktuk. My riding of Tu Nedhe will not have many direct benefits with the construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway; however, I have hopes that the construction companies will recognize the rich resources of heavy equipment operators that exist in Fort Resolution. In Fort Resolution we have many very good heavy equipment operators and truck drivers.

Heavy equipment operators and truck drivers would have work on the Mackenzie Valley Highway for several years.

In addition to some employment in my riding, the entire NWT will benefit from the construction of the highway. The Mackenzie Valley Highway will lower the cost of living to those communities along that highway and will have a ripple effect on the rest of the North.

The workers needed to construct the highway will take a lot of families off income support. Again, this will have a positive impact on the rest of the Northwest Territories by relieving some of the social pressures on the GNWT budget.

This highway will have a very positive impact on tourism in the NWT. I feel that thousands of tourists will drive the loop using this highway and the Dempster Highway.

Once a highway is built through communities it opens the doors for many other benefits, such as a housing market and allowing professionals into the communities that would otherwise not live in these communities due to the isolation. Many professionals will not live in these communities because of the isolation and the fact that they cannot invest in a house. With the completion of the highway and the possible emergence of a housing market, professionals can purchase a home, build

equity, and remain in the community for longer periods.

The youth and the students will benefit from teachers remaining in the community for a longer term and we all know the benefits of a healthier youth population. In addition, longer term, stable health professionals will have a major benefit on the health of our people.

I support the construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway in hopes of employment for my constituents and the lowering of dependence on the social purse which will benefit the entire NWT, including Tu Nedhe.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today you have and will hear Members of this House speak passionately about the need to move forward with the Mackenzie Valley Highway. The people of the Mackenzie Valley and the NWT have been saying that it must be built for years. Cece McCauley and her Women Warriors have been champions for the cause.

The Mackenzie Valley Aboriginal Corporation, or MAC group, has been actively lobbying the federal and territorial governments to proceed with the development of the highway.

Historically, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker saw the advantages to developing the road to resources. Under his direction and leadership, a vast amount of roads and railways were built in order to open up northern regions of Canada to create easier access to resources. Yet his vision has never been fully realized. A Canadian highway system stretching from coast to coast to coast still does not exist.

The 15th and 16th Assemblies have identified the

Mackenzie Valley Highway as a priority. The 15th Assembly developed a proposal titled “Connecting Canada: Coast to Coast to Coast” to complete the Mackenzie Valley Highway to the Arctic Coast and submitted it to the federal government in November 2005. This proposal outlined how the highway will facilitate resource development that will bring significant benefits to all of Canada, how the highway will ensure Canada’s sovereignty in the North, how the highway will improve Canada’s northern security and emergency response, how the highway will support the economic and social development of Northerners, and how the highway

will improve the North’s capacity to adapt to climate change. The proposal is on-line on the GNWT website and I encourage everyone to give it a read.

In these difficult economic times a national project is required. The GNWT cannot afford to build this national highway and, although important to the residents of the NWT, this must be a federal project. The federal government continues to talk about stimulus projects. The construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway addresses and supports all of these statements. As a government we need to encourage the federal government to complete this national highway project and connect Canada from coast to coast to coast.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also support the efforts to build the Mackenzie Valley Highway. I have worked closely with the Mackenzie Aboriginal Corporation, which has put a lot of time and effort into looking at how they can develop this proposal realizing that it is going to be a major capital endeavour. Through partnerships from the Deh Cho to the Sahtu to the Gwich’in settlement area to the Inuvialuit settlement area to construct a highway from Wrigley all the way to Tuktoyaktuk is a dream that people in the valley have had for years.

We all hear what the high cost of living is in our small communities and, more importantly, in our isolated communities and communities that have to be served by winter roads. In order for us to reduce the real cost of living, we have to improve our infrastructure. With the challenges we’re facing today with global warming and the shorter seasons that we’re seeing with regard to being able to build roads and service our communities it’s getting shorter every year.

The Mackenzie Highway has cost this government about a million dollars a year in regard to opening the winter roads and maintaining those roads. Yes, we’ve invested some $41 million into bridges and I believe that is a start, but in order for this project to go forward it will take a lot of capital investment from the private sector, the Government of Canada, and the Government of the Northwest Territories. As a government we should push forward a major infrastructure problem in the Northwest Territories where we’re looking at somewhere in the range of $1.8 billion to construct this length of highway.

We do have to think outside the box. The federal government has been taking royalties and revenues from the old Norman Wells field going back some 50 years. Yet those revenues flow directly to the federal coffers. The federal government owns one-third of the Norman Wells field in which the revenues are somewhere in the range of $200 million a year. Yet I believe that’s where the investment should come from. The federal government should reinvest those dollars that they’ve taken out of the northern economy. Just to drill one well in the Mackenzie Valley costs somewhere around $30 million. We have to do better.

With that, I will support this endeavour and thank the Members.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would want to add a little story to my Member’s statement. Mr. Speaker, some time ago, the elders were telling stories on the Norman Wells oilfield. Some of the elders claim that, when they passed through, they picked up the oil off the ground, put it in a lard pail and brought it to Tulita. When they got to Tulita, it was given to some of the Hudson Bay and the government people that took it down. Later on, some of the people came up from the south to claim the Norman Wells oilfield. That was about 89 or 90 years ago.

Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories has been noted over many studies of the vast amount of resources that are waiting to be capped. It has been said over time that the Northwest Territories could be true partners in Canada, if only we were taken seriously by the federal government.

Seriously, Mr. Speaker, the NWT has billions of resources that could be redistributed amongst the people of the Northwest Territories. For example, if the highway was built from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk, we could contribute to the national gross domestic product and billions, almost $58 million alone just in terms of the potential for oil and gas exploration. Just the highway itself on the royalties and the taxes, I understand there could be about $13.5 billion. If we could build a highway, that will be thousands and thousands of jobs just for the Northwest Territories and also have a little bit of room for people from the south to come up and work on our highway.

Mr. Speaker, this Mackenzie Valley Highway would open many resources in the Sahtu and other

regions in the Northwest Territories. The federal government could either win or lose depending on their next move in terms of supporting the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Mr. Speaker, Northrock in March 2006 announced the largest oil and gas discovery in the last decade. The well is suspected to produce 100 times the volume of the average well in northern Alberta. That is near Tulita.

Mr. Speaker, the lard pail that I talked about the elders were saying when they shipped the lard pail out, the people have yet to return that lard pail to the people in Tulita. Mr. Speaker, if we build this road, hopefully that lard pail will come back on it.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to talk about the completing the Mackenzie Valley Highway. In 1972, the federal government announced they were going to build a highway from Fort Simpson to the Dempster in four years. I believe that it is time to focus our government’s and the federal government’s efforts to achieve these goals once again. The Mackenzie Highway was constructed to a few kilometres south of Wrigley. When construction stopped in 1977, only 210 kilometres had been completed. More than 800 kilometres of road remains to be completed to take the highway north to the Dempster and add the remaining link to Tuktoyaktuk.

One of the reasons that I am interested in the construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway is because this will provide much needed economic stimulus to our North and provide a transportation loop that will encourage tourism and tourism-related businesses to develop and expand.

Another reason is that the communities in my riding of Nahendeh will benefit greatly from these increased traffic volumes and if we follow the plan from the Connecting Canada proposal, a new bridge will be constructed and allow us year-round mobility to points south.

I would urge our government to work with our aboriginal groups to develop a unique and joint strategy for Ottawa to show that the North can and will work together for everyone’s benefit. To date the lobbying efforts in Ottawa has been led largely by a Mackenzie Valley Aboriginal Corporation and the Denendeh Development Corporation.

The Mackenzie Valley Highway can bring real benefits to northern communities, helping them lower the cost of living, improve their access to other NWT communities and assist with economic development. I quote from our Connecting Canada Highway Proposal. “Connecting Canada is crucial to the socio-economic future of Canada.” For my constituents and I, the completion of this highway is an important project, a legacy that will span from one generation to the next. So, once again, I urge our government to take the lead on this project which everyone supports. Like Obama, Mr. Speaker, we must be leaders and inspire our people with hope and positive change. Mahsi cho.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to add my voice today to supporting the construction of an all-weather road down the Mackenzie Valley. I support the construction of the highway for many reasons. It will connect communities which will foster closer ties to families. It will undoubtedly lower the obscene cost of living in communities down the valley. It will create numerous jobs and economic activity at a time when we need it the most. It will give tourism in the Northwest Territories a solid shot in the arm. The road traffic will bring economic benefits to small communities along the route.

How can this highway get built, Mr. Speaker? It is going to take a partnership between the federal government, our territorial government and aboriginal governments in the MAC group to get this done.

The Prime Minister often states the importance of Arctic sovereignty, nation building and the importance of the NWT to the future of the Canadian economy. It is time the federal government stepped up to the plate. Our government has to lessen its shotgun approach to infrastructure. A bridge here, chipseal here, is not the approach we need right now to take to Canada. Yes, we have many infrastructure needs across this country, but we need to have focus and resolve in order to get the federal government to agree to such a large-scale infrastructure project.

I personally want to be actively involved in helping the MAC group, our government and the federal government to advance the construction of this highway. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank those people who live in the Mackenzie Valley communities for all of their patience, and also thank you to Cece McCauley and her group of Women

Warriors for all of their support and hard work in this initiative. Hopefully sooner rather than later this much needed roadway will become a reality for those residents down the Mackenzie Valley.

Mr. Speaker, our Prime Minister, Mr. Harper, and his government have an opportunity to go down in history as a government and a Prime Minister with a vision for the North and do their good for building this country of ours, Canada, to be all that it can be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.