Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A couple of things. First of all, we do firmly believe in the economic future of the Sahtu region, central Mackenzie Valley and the importance of not only having a winter road down the Mackenzie Valley but also advancing, at every turn, an all-weather road down the Mackenzie Valley. You need to look at the Corridors for Canada III proposal to see that we’re serious about investing in a big way into the Sahtu. We’re looking at the Bear River Bridge, the Oscar Creek Bridge, Bosworth Creek Bridge, and I’ve mentioned it before, but my goal is to envision to have a winter road all the way down the valley, and I think we’re getting close. There is money in Corridors for Canada III to enable us to do that, to have a road from Fort Good Hope, a winter road from Fort Good Hope to the Dempster. We need to keep moving in a positive direction. I really do believe that we are moving in that direction.
Just so the Member knows, we haven’t finished negotiating with industry on what support they’re going to approve the government with to help us maintain and enhance the winter road this coming season. Earlier today I spoke to the Member about some of the enhancements we’ve done in terms of looking at more manpower in the region for enforcement and safety.
We’ve done a lot of work on mapping the route and we’re going to try to ensure that there’s an orientation for drivers going up the winter road. They can get a map. We can ensure that they’re well prepared, especially if they’re new drivers. We’re doing everything we can to ensure that it’s going to be a successful winter season on that winter road. We haven’t got to the stage where we know exactly what we’re going to be getting from industry, and hopefully it is equivalent to what we’ve received in the past, but again, those negotiations aren’t concluded.
We also will be looking at the completion of more bridges this coming winter, and I know the Member and I spent some time on the winter road last winter. We saw those areas of concern, and especially with Bob’s and Strawberry, those are going to be completed this coming season, so that’s going to improve the safety of the road. Again, I mentioned earlier the other crossings. We are continuing to move in the right direction, and again, in this year, in a perfect world we’d have money for everything right now, but we’re working with what we’ve got, the best that we can, and we have a plan for the future and it requires a substantial amount of funding. I mean, everybody talks about the infrastructure deficit that we face here, and we really need to get a plan like Corridors for Canada off the ground so we can continue to invest in our infrastructure so that we can grow the economy here in the NWT.