Mr. Speaker, this Legislative Assembly has a vision of strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories. Achieving that vision requires a balanced approach that advances our economic, environmental and social priorities and this government is moving forward on all those fronts.
Supporting economic development for Inuvik, and the whole Northwest Territories, by facilitating the construction of a fibre optic line up the entire length of the Mackenzie Valley to Tuktoyaktuk is one of the priorities of this Assembly and this government. The Mackenzie Valley fibre optic line would allow communities, businesses and residents along its route to benefit from the internet age of the 21st century.
One of the ways that we can help finance this important project, diversify the economy of our territory and the town of Inuvik, and free ourselves from the ups and downs of the resource development sector we have depended on, is to support the growth of new industries, such as the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility.
Mr. Speaker, this facility has the potential to become one of the pre-eminent satellite ground stations for remote sensing not only in North America but the world.
Currently there are two satellite antennas in Inuvik, one owned by the Swedish Space Corporation and the other by the German Space Agency. The Government of Canada, through Natural Resources Canada, will begin construction of their own antenna this summer. At this point, Mr. Speaker, this is likely the maximum number of antennas that we will see in Inuvik without a fibre optic link to southern Canada and the rest of the world.
Mr. Speaker, the limitations of our current communications infrastructure are preventing our government from providing better programs and services to our residents, particularly in the areas of health and education. This lack of infrastructure is also preventing our businesses and residents from accessing non-government services and connecting, in real time, to the rest of the world.
In order to obtain a better understanding of how growing the Inuvik Satellite Facility can help the construction of a fibre optic line up the Mackenzie Valley, I led a delegation to Kiruna, Sweden, where the Swedish Space Corporation operates one of the largest satellite ground stations in the world, and to Munich, Germany, where the German Space Agency is located.
Our delegation was comprised of representatives from Aboriginal governments that are considering partnering with our government to build the fibre optic line and a representative from the Town of Inuvik. Travelling with me were:
• Mr. Daryl Dolynny, MLA, Range Lake,
representing the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning;
• Mr. Denny Rodgers, general manager of the
Inuvialuit Development Corporation;
• Ms. Amy Thompson, board member, Gwich’in
Tribal Council;
• Mr. Danny Yakeleya, Sahtu Secretariat Inc.;
• Mr. Jim MacDonald, deputy mayor of Inuvik;
• Mr. Mike Aumond, deputy minister, Finance;
• Mr. James Tolley, my executive assistant; and
• Mr. Stuart Salter, our invaluable expert
consultant.
Every member of our delegation learned a great deal from our meetings and has a better appreciation how important the fibre optic line up the Mackenzie Valley is.
Specifically, Mr. Speaker, we saw first-hand the significant positive benefits the satellite ground station and remote sensing industry have not only on the economy of Kiruna, but also the important role they play in facilitating advanced learning at the Institute of Space Physics. The potential impact of an expanded satellite ground station in Inuvik on the Aurora Research Centre is significant and could make this facility one of the “the places to be” to conduct space-based Arctic research.
In Munich, the German Space Agency clearly articulated the geographical advantages that make Inuvik an ideal location for remote satellite sensing. They told us that if they decided to further invest in the Inuvik Satellite Facility, they would seriously look at undertaking significant data processing in Inuvik, creating jobs and providing training for local residents.
It is evident that both the Swedish Space Corporation, the German Space Agency, the Government of Canada and others will seriously consider investing to expand the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility and make it a world-class leader in remote sensing if, and only if, they have access to a fibre optic link to provide a real time connection to the rest of the world.
Mr. Speaker, it is time that as many of our communities as possible enjoy the benefits of 21st century communication infrastructure that Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith, Edmonton, Ottawa and most of the world take for granted. We can make this happen with the construction of the Mackenzie Valley fibre optic line. I want to thank the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning for its strong support of our government’s commitment to see this project advanced and completed.
Mr. Speaker, we continue to take productive steps towards implementing the Mackenzie Valley fibre link. We are in the process of finalizing the project description report by the end of June; we undertook a request for expression of interest process in April that demonstrated a strong level of interest in the project; we are currently preparing the request for qualifications for release in June 2013 and planning on starting the request for proposal process later this fall. Based on this schedule, we anticipate
construction will start in winter 2014 to have the fibre operational by the summer of 2016.
This timeline will support the current growth of the Inuvik Satellite Facility, which includes the new antenna I had mentioned earlier and provide the confidence needed to support future anticipated growth to a total of five antennas by 2016 and 10 antennas by 2020.
Mr. Speaker, I will table a detailed report on our visit to Sweden and Germany in upcoming October session. Thank you.