Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to follow up on another statement that I’ve made during the session and it’s regarding the proposed Inuvik-Tuk highway, this time with some specific concerns on gravel costs.

It is my understanding that the gravel used to build and maintain the highway is subject to royalties under the Inuvialuit Land Claim Agreement. The land claim agreement sets out maximum amounts for those royalties, it does not set minimums, so there is room for negotiation. Especially when Inuvialuit beneficiaries stand to gain so much themselves from a major infrastructure project at their doorstep, in terms of jobs, business opportunities, services, lower transportation cost and, certainly, convenience, those gains need to be taken into account when negotiating the amount of the royalties. To be clear, I’m not saying the royalties should be zero, but they should be fair and reflect and respect those primary beneficiaries who will be receiving this highway; potentially the $299 million project in their region.

We need to make sure whether a negotiation deal is fair for taxpayers of the Northwest Territories, because the highway is going to be precedent setting. In future years we, as an Assembly, will be looking at building the Mackenzie Valley Highway. We will also be negotiating royalty rates for gravel with other land claim groups. If we accept a bad

deal on the Inuvik-Tuk highway, we will be sentencing ourselves and future generations to be paying premium prices multiplied by hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars across thousands of kilometres. What is it in the end that may cost us dearly by not setting it out right up front?

To be very clear and to ensure the public is fully informed, I’m not talking about will we pay for the gravel. The gravel will be bought by fair market rate by the government. It’s about the additional royalties on top of the fair market project. A project of this magnitude obviously has a lot of pieces, and we need to make sure that the Minister of Transportation is paying due attention to such an important factor. Whether this government buys the gravel and then pays a 10, 15 or 20 million dollars additional royalty rate, that’s what I’m asking. This government should be asking the Inuvialuit to waive that royalty fee and put it into the project, because I’d rather see that money invested in the road and that would demonstrate that they truly have skin in this project that will change my support for this type of initiative.