As I indicated earlier, I think the $5 million we’re approving here is one piece of the large puzzle, and I think we’ll be seeing further supplements here quickly. Basically to the point of committing to the project, I think this is a tough decision for a lot of the Members here to decide what we want to do with this money and whether we support this project. For me personally, it’s been a challenge back and forth. I know it’s large infrastructure money, and it’s hard not to look at last projects such as the Deh Cho Bridge and the overruns there. The Deh Cho Bridge had a revenue stream to it, but this one has a revenue stream and the federal government sponsoring basically two-thirds of it, from what the numbers are indicating.
I see the benefit to the area, the economic development driver, and I’m supportive of that. I guess from my community, we’re interested. We were always interested in seeing expansion of the Mackenzie Valley Highway basically from the south, maybe Norman Wells where there’s a lot of activity where we’re seeing the benefits. But I understand the federal government’s committed right now to the north end and their nation building and us building a territory that’s going to have a road all the way to Tuktoyaktuk, to the other ocean.
So I’m supportive of this $5 million, and I’m supportive of the entire project. It’s been an ongoing debate and discussion in our community. We’ve had discussions whether we support the project or not, and I think we need to look at all the options. The federal government increased their borrowing limit; they made it accessible for us to do this. So I am giving my support to this project, I guess.
I know there are lots of questions and lots of concerns from different Members, and I think we need to challenge the Cabinet and the Premier to make sure certain things are being done, that this is not just being an open chequebook to build the road and do a whole bunch of cost overruns. I think we need to make sure that we stay on budget and we make sure the road is built to a good standard.
I know there are all kinds of questions out there, and there are questions and concerns whether we have a complete design or not. But some of these projects are hard to do unless you start going into them. I’m hoping that things will get done more efficiently, and I hope the number for one rare reason would be under budget, which I know the government definitely doesn’t have a good track record of keeping projects under budget.
That being said, I think the area needs our support, and I think it is building a nation, building a territory, and I think it’s the first leg in building the Mackenzie Valley Highway. We look forward to probably the south end. My colleague to my right here from the Sahtu and I would like to see that come to fruition in our terms of offices here, at least to have something to move the project forward.
That being said, I just wanted to lend my support to the project at this time. I know there are lots of questions out there, and we’ll have to deal with those questions and those concerns as we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.