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A pickup truck affixed with a mechanical auger travels down the road as a typhoon pump floods the road. - photo courtesy of the Joint Venture Management Committee for the Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - To be truly effective, the upcoming $30-billion federal economic stimulus package must address the North's needs, warned the NWT Chamber of Commerce in a list of spending recommendations recently submitted to federal bigwigs.

"Obviously the majority of this package will be aimed at the south. The numbers game Ottawa likes to play and our relative population will always ensure that fact," said Ann Marie Tout, president of the NWT Chamber of Commerce.

But aiming south won't necessarily give the feds the best bang for their buck, the chamber said.

"What's going to (benefit the entire country) on a larger scale, tacking the umpteenth lane onto 12 km of Ontario's Highway 401, or investing in a realigned Tlicho winter road?" asked Tout.

The first step to an all-weather road, said Tout, will result in the development of mining properties here by companies with headquarters all over Canada and employ people not only in the North, but from around the country.

So what should the feds focus on in the package?

"In a word, infrastructure," said Tout. "Without reliable access roads to known resource areas, when the diamond mines are eventually exhausted there will be nothing else to sustain our economy."

Narrowing in on the overall theme of improved infrastructure, the report breaks Northern priorities down into four salient points: completing the Mackenzie Valley Highway, funding hydro-electric projects, building roads to sustain the mining industry and reducing regulatory barriers to further development.

While some points - like an all-weather road to replace the Tibbitt to Contwoyto ice road - are old dreams, proponents of better infrastructure in the North hope the chamber's backing will give the ideas some teeth.

"The mining industry in its whole has said for years that infrastructure has been the stumbling block here in the North," said Erik Madsen, director of the current winter road. By coming forward, the chamber could help out, said Madsen.

"We as mining companies have made a decision that it's too costly to build (the all-weather road) ourselves because of the life expectancies that these mines have left," he added.

But infrastructure is hinged to the North's future and is needed to open the area up to development, said Madsen.

"(It is) definitely something that we'll hope for for future generations," he said.

While the all-weather road made it on the list of top priorities, another old wish was absent.

"While building the Mackenzie (Gas Project) would be the ultimate stimulus, the fact is it is facing significant delays due to the regulatory review process," reads the report. "The project isn't achievable within the desired time frame and thus it has not (been) examined in great detail in this document."

"In terms of the specific reference that the chamber makes about the project and the timing, etc., I'd rather not comment in any detail," said Pius Rolheiser, spokesperson for Imperial Oil, one of three major backers for the $16.2-billion project.

"I can tell you from our perspective that despite the anticipated regulatory delay, the proponents remain committed to the project and we're working diligently on a number of fronts on a path forward," he added, saying "Obviously we were not pleased about the announced delay."

Details of the $30-billion injection into the economy will be released in the Jan. 27 budget. Tout said she has already received some positive response from the prime minister's office.

"Whether that translates into support for the NWT in the federal budget remains to be seen, but we're hopeful there will be something to smile about by the time Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is done talking next Tuesday," she said.