NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

Western Arctic candidates running against Tory MP hopeful Sandy Lee say a bigger federal commitment is needed for the Mackenzie Valley Highway - regardless of whether the Mackenzie Gas Project goes forward.

The Conservatives' recently-stalled budget set aside $150 million to build a highway from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk, but that doesn't go far enough, according to Joe Handley, former NWT premier and current Liberal candidate, and Dennis Bevington, the NDP candidate and incumbent who has represented the NWT's only riding since 2006.

"We don't need to get $150 million as a little gift for one group and nothing said about the rest," said Handley at a debate hosted by the NWT Chamber of Commerce last week in Yellowknife. "We need a 10-year-plan and I'm going to work on it to build the Mackenzie Valley Highway, to create jobs for people in those communities, so that they have productive lives."

Echoed Bevington, "$150 million over five years, starting with this year's budget, is not going to do the job for the Mackenzie Valley Highway."

All three candidates, in addition to Green party candidate Eli Purchase, attended the Wednesday morning event, which drew about 50 people.

The highway and the natural gas project focused largely in the debate, drawing various pledges from candidates on how they will approach the development of the highway in anticipation of the pipeline, which, in the words of Bevington, "is not a moneymaker right now" based on current natural gas prices.

"That gives us the opportunity to build the infrastructure prior to development of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, and by building that infrastructure, we will engage Northerners in working in areas that would be really similar to what they have to do when the pipeline is built," said Bevington.

Handley said he doesn't want to contemplate a scenario in which plans for the pipeline are scuttled.

But if that's the case, "we would build that highway piece by piece by piece," he said. "It would be one of the biggest things we do for tourism in the Northwest Territories."

Handley added that the millions of dollars set aside under the socio-economic agreement - reached by the GNWT and the pipeline proponents in 2007 - must be tapped into now in order to train people for the eventual construction and operation of the 1,200-km gas line.

Under the agreement, once a decision to construct is made, Imperial Oil and its partners will provide the GNWT with $10 million in training funds over the first 10 years of the project, with $500,000 for each additional year until the last anchor field is closed.

"We have to spend that ... socio-economic impact fund now," he said. "Not when the pipeline is approved, Sandy. If we wait until then, it's too late, because people won't have the skills or the experience to be able to do most of the jobs and people (will be brought in) from the south."

Lee countered that the North is already full of workers who are primed and ready for the pipeline.

"I totally have to disagree with Joe when he says that you can't do these things until people are trained. I have to tell you, in the Beaufort Delta, there are hundreds of people ready to go, they're trained, they're ready to build roads, to be employed and take advantage of economic opportunities."

But not every NWT resident will be so keen to enter those industries, according to Purchase.

"We're going to tell kids in Behchoko that you have to be an oil worker because that's where the jobs are, so that's where positions are going to be funded? That's ridiculous. We need education for education's sake ... We can't just support jobs that are here and now. We need education to support kids' dreams."

The candidates speak out

Sandy Lee, Eli Purchase, Dennis Bevington and Joe Handley - four of the five candidates vying for the Western Arctic seat in Parliament - squared off in a debate hosted in Yellowknife last week by the NWT Chamber of Commerce. - Katherine Hudson/NNSL photo

SANDY LEE ON...

The economy: "All parts of the territory are in economic stagnation. When you go to Hay River, there are a hundred houses on the market that haven't moved for the last year."

Opportunities created by funded projects: "One of the challenges is that we have a lot of trained people in our communities, but we cannot match them up with jobs. We have lots of people in communities who are trained with graders and heavy equipment. (The Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway) will give us exactly the kind of case of economic development that would allow our contractors to train employees, and it will create lifelong jobs - really, really good jobs our community people really like. Once the roads are built, they have to be maintained, and road maintenance jobs are one of the best jobs there are for small communities."

Whether the feds should help fund the pipeline: "It would definitely require federal involvement and it's the kind of project that I'll be very interested in working on as an MP."

The prospects for the Mackenzie Valley Highway without the pipeline: "Even without the pipeline, we need to start building the highway, in all parts."

ELI PURCHASE ON...

His commitment to post his MP expenses online: "It keeps me responsible."

The lack of reliable, high-speed Internet in every NWT community: "Businesses in this territory ... are at a disadvantage to every other business in southern Canada..."

Whether the feds should help fund the pipeline: "I don't think the federal government should have to do that."

DENNIS BEVINGTON ON...

A further increase to the Northern Residency Tax Deduction: "We know that Northerners need a tax break that can even take off the sting of GST."

Devolution: "I like to actually call it evolution, because ... from my perspective ... we want to evolve into a higher level of responsible government."

The importance of a road into Norman Wells: "There's a pipeline there already that's half-full. It needs to be filled up with oil, which is it at a high price and in high demand."

JOE HANDLEY ON...

Simplifying the certification process for immigrant workers: "Foreigners who come here, who are well-educated, should not be out there driving cabs. They should be working in the field they were trained in."

Whether the Liberals would scrap the proposed $150 million allocation for the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway: "We're not going to take anything away that is there right now. If that's in the budget, that's in the budget, as far as Mr. Ignatieff is concerned. I've talked to him about that, and he agrees."

Whether the feds should help fund the pipeline: "We're not going to give money to Exxon or give large tax breaks to large corporations; what we're going to do is do loan guarantees to the Aboriginal Pipeline Group so that they can maintain at least a one-third share of that pipeline and hopefully be able to increase that share."