Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, my deep sea port, that’s the next thing for me.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to drive from Tuk on my way down to Yellowknife, to Norman Wells, to have tea with the honorary Chief Cece McCauley and all the good work that she does in promoting this project. At this time, I thank the government and all my colleagues for supporting this project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you. Industries have indicated that they would give airships serious consideration if they were available -- a business opportunity here. The connection of all our communities is critical and to the degree that these questions can be fully and positively addressed, Mr. Speaker, I support the idea of a Mackenzie Highway to be constructed by Northerners. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have the honour and privilege of recognizing an elder from Deline, Mr. Andrew John Kenny, a good friend of the people in the Sahtu and the Northwest Territories.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Darrell Beaulieu, president of the Dene Development Corporation and also a member of the Mackenzie Aboriginal Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also want to recognize Darrell Beaulieu, a resident of Weledeh and he’s been a long-time supporter of economic development in the North. Welcome, Darrell.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also want to recognize Darrell Beaulieu. He’s representing the Minister’s Advisory Committee here this afternoon. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Welcome to everyone in the gallery today. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Supplementary Appropriation No. 3, 2008-2009. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger.

Pursuant to section 5 of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, I wish to table the summary of Members’ absences for the period October 18, 2007 to February 3, 2009.

Item 15, notices of motions. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, February 27, 2009, I will move the following: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that the Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the Government of Canada immediately commence negotiations with the GNWT to conclude the proposed infrastructure partnership;

And further, that the Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the Government of Canada advance the funding and planning for a Mackenzie Valley Highway and consider this project as a national stimulus initiative that would be a lasting legacy for all Canadians;

And furthermore, that the content and results of these proceedings be forwarded to the Prime Minister, the federal Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and the Member of Parliament for Western Arctic for their consideration.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will be seeking unanimous consent to deal with this motion today.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave earlier today.

---Unanimous consent granted

WHEREAS a Mackenzie Valley Highway through to the Arctic coast should be a strategic priority for Canada and is the final link to connect Canada from coast to coast to coast;

AND WHEREAS the Mackenzie Valley Highway is a strategic priority for the Government of the

Northwest Territories (GNWT) as documented in the funding proposal entitled Connecting Canada: Coast to Coast to Coast, submitted to the federal government in November 2005;

AND WHEREAS last fall the GNWT proposed a 10-year infrastructure partnership with Canada to cost-share the development of new economic infrastructure in the NWT that will create sustainable benefits for the NWT and Canada;

AND WHEREAS the GNWT has demonstrated its commitment to this priority through continuing investments in Mackenzie Valley bridge and grade improvements;

AND WHEREAS a Mackenzie Valley Highway would help to lower the cost of living in northern communities and contribute to their sustainability;

AND WHEREAS climate change trends in the NWT have and will continue to pose challenges by reducing the length of winter road seasons and by increasing the uncertainty of opening and closing dates of winter roads;

AND WHEREAS there are northern environmental and socio-economic review and permitting processes that would ensure that this project results in net benefits for Northerners;

AND WHEREAS a Mackenzie Valley Highway would enhance Canada’s national security and emergency response capability;

AND WHEREAS a Mackenzie Valley Highway would enhance the assertion of Canada’s sovereignty over the Arctic;

AND WHEREAS a Mackenzie Valley Highway would further the economic, social and political development of the NWT;

AND WHEREAS a Mackenzie Valley Highway would connect the Mackenzie Valley communities and Beaufort-Delta communities and improve access to services;

AND WHEREAS a Mackenzie Valley Highway would provide opportunities to diversify the NWT’s economy through expanded renewable and non-renewable resources development and tourism opportunities;

AND WHEREAS expanded renewable and non-renewable resource development in the Mackenzie Valley results in significant benefits of employment and business development outside of the NWT in provinces across Canada;

AND WHEREAS the construction of a Mackenzie Valley Highway should proceed through a call for expressions of interest from Northern and aboriginal businesses;

AND WHEREAS the federal government is responsible for the costs of constructing and maintaining new highways in the NWT;

AND WHEREAS the Dene Nation has acknowledged the importance of the Mackenzie Valley Highway during its most recent Dene leadership meeting in February 2009;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the Member for Deh Cho, that the Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the Government of Canada immediately commence negotiations with the GNWT to conclude the proposed infrastructure partnership;

AND FURTHER, that the Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the Government of Canada advance the funding and planning for a Mackenzie Valley Highway and consider this project as a national stimulus initiative that would be a lasting legacy for all Canadians;

AND FURTHERMORE, that the content and results of these proceedings be forwarded to the Prime Minister, the federal Minister of Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities, and the Member of Parliament for Western Arctic for their consideration.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. A motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would certainly be supporting wholeheartedly this motion. I would like to give the opportunity to the Members of this House to speak on the motion and I will be speaking to close the motion.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all I would like to thank the Members for bringing this motion forward. I think it’s very timely that we have a discussion on the Mackenzie Valley Highway. It’s been in the media for some time now. It’s a road that’s been talked about for many years, since the 1950s; Diefenbaker’s Road to Resources program.

The road is roughly 940 kilometres long. From Wrigley to the Dempster is 800 kilometres and the Inuvik to Tuk portion is 140 kilometres making a total of 940 kilometres. For many years now the department has worked towards putting bridges on some of the crossings in the Mackenzie Valley Road system. That really helps us when we look at extending our winter road season and improves the safety and things of that nature for the road.

We have looked at many options to try to attract additional funding to construct this road. We’ve looked at partnership opportunities with the federal government. We’ve also been talking to other groups. We’ve been quite fortunate that the federal government has highlighted several new programs over the last few years, including a P3 infrastructure fund that was quite exciting to see come forward. We have yet to see how the details are going to allow it to flow and move forward.

This has been a subject of discussion on many different tables, including the devolution table, resource revenue sharing discussions, and it’s been something that we’ve brought forward as an economic stimulus for the recent federal budget. We’ve been trying to do a lot of work towards improving our business case. We’ve undertaken to do some more detailed engineering and environmental scoping and baseline work required for some of the pre-permitting and environmental assessment phases for some of the projects that we’re working towards in the Building Canada plan. Also, through the Managing This Land Initiative we’ve more recently hired a consultant to do some of the environmental stimulus.

We have recognized that in our Northern Connections document we’ve highlighted the many needs and challenges that were faced with and the land-based transportation is something that we’ve flagged as being very limited. Only one-third of the land area in the Northwest Territories is within 100 kilometres of an all-weather road and only 19 percent of the residents have year-round access. Sixty-five percent of the NWT residents, including Yellowknife, do not have highway access for all year or there are a couple months in there that they don’t have access for seasonal transition because of the ferry service. Thirteen percent of our population has only access during the winter roads and there’s 3 percent of our population that still doesn’t have any land transportation access at all. Those are very concerning statistics.

We all recognize that the Mackenzie Valley road at this time, considering the economic downturn, would be of great benefit to all of us. It would create jobs, a lot of employment that we need in our communities. Certainly it would help us address the high cost of living in our communities. We’ve all heard from many Members in this House over the last while about the high cost and the continual increase in buying groceries and fuel supplies and things of that nature. We certainly would see an increased interest in oil and gas exploration and other kinds of exploration in different parts of the Territories. This would open up a portion of the North. Benefits, because of increased opportunities in other areas such as tourism, have to be recognized.

We have to recognize that we can’t build a road without the ability to maintain it. So when we talk about investment in building a road, we also have to look at the investment in allowing us and assisting us to maintain this road. That would create a lot of jobs. We already know and recognize the benefits of our existing roads and the different contracts we have with the communities, and also our own staff that have stable, long-term employment as a result.

Up to now, as I’ve indicated, we’ve taken an incremental approach that’s allowing us to move forward, but, in my opinion, not fast enough. We have tried to redesign our maintenance schedules. We’ve tried to redesign our construction seasons and methods. We’ve also tried to open up the door so that people that are in the industries, for example oil and gas, can invest and work with us as partners to extend seasons.

This is an issue that’s been highlighted, as indicated in this Assembly through this motion. It’s been highlighted in the opening address of the 16th Assembly. The 2007 Pan-Territorial Transportation Blueprint and Northern Connections has flagged it as a priority. The strategic committees that we’ve formed within our government have recognized it as a priority. So this motion today, along with the motion that was brought forward by the Dene Nation, certainly has to identify it. It has to send that signal to the federal government that this is a priority, we are supporting it, and we’d like to see it brought forward.