Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to make a comment. I am a Member for Sahtu that certainly – when we go up there we don’t have the all-weather road – understands the people in the Beaufort-Delta and Mackenzie Delta for pushing for this road here and their efforts. I know that my people would like to see an all-weather road. We also know the resources are there right now. We also know that the people up in Tuk and Inuvik have worked long and hard and they’ve done their work. They’ve told me in the Sahtu they have done the lobbying, they’ve done the work, they’ve convinced a lot of people. They even worked with the government of the day to get their work in the books, and so far as we have the Prime Minister of Canada making a commitment, unheard of, to a project in the Northwest Territories.
Us in the Sahtu, we understand about infrastructure and building. We have been at it for a long time ourselves since the ‘70s, even since the ‘50s when Diefenbaker had his dream about the Road to Resources. This is 140 kilometres of road. When you come outside here, and not to pick on Yellowknife, but if you come outside here you drive down here to the Ingraham Trail. That’s 74 kilometres of road. Most of it’s paved. Surely we could do 140 kilometres up at the Beaufort Sea.
How many millions of dollars have we spent? I call it the best fish road in the Northwest Territories because it’s paved right to the end. My wife and I drove on it and said, gee whiz, Tulita to Norman Wells is 84 kilometres. Surely we can build a road like that. That’s 74 kilometres on my GMC vehicle. We have to build. That’s about it. We have to build this country. We have to build what they’re asking for.
You say they’re 85 percent designed. What kind of dollars are we looking at for the 15 percent to get 100 percent completed design? I’m going to rely on the Minister, the Minister of Finance and his department. Other than going into I have a dream or let’s build this Northwest Territories, you know, it is unprecedented to have the Prime Minister come up with $200 million for infrastructure. I wish he could do that in the Sahtu for us, but we keep our hopes alive.
This looks like a lot of money but the benefits outweigh it. We have to do it for them. We have to of course go through some of the hard questions, but we feel confident. We have to do it. If we want to build a $2 billion highway and we’re fighting over $299 million, look at the work that we did at over $200 million for the Deh Cho Bridge, what is the federal government going to say to us? You guys want to build a $1.8 billion highway? We’re with the big boys now. We need to do that. That’s his only chance.
I’ve been here eight years, nine years. This is the first time I’m seeing it. I never thought I would see a devolution deal. I never thought that would be possible. We may disagree, but we have to go arm in arm on this one and show Canada and show the rest of the world that there are possibilities for us. I’m not going to ask too many questions. I want to know, I guess, in regard to the 85 percent of the design, is that 15 percent the uncertainty? I don’t know. Mr. Minister, you might know.
Finance is putting this deal together. We still have to deal with the Inuvialuit and the other things that we have to put this deal together. We need to start building. We have to put the heavy machinery to work and the people to work and help fulfill the Prime Minister’s vision or goal, sea to sea to sea. Pretty soon they’re going to see it in the Sahtu. That’s what I’m looking forward to.
For me, we still need to look at some of these hard questions. I understand that. But I think that we have to support the people up there. We’ve got to do that. That’s all I’m going to say. These are mostly comments, but if he wants to answer one question on 85 percent design, what’s the 15 percent? Certainly, if they can build a road from here to the end of Prelude Lake and pave it, maybe they will do that one up there too, because what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, is what I say.