Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 19/02) - Joe Handley can't help but think ahead to what might be.

"It will go a long, long way toward meeting our requests under the non-renewable resource strategy if this all works out the way it seems to be," said the transportation minister Wednesday.

Handley, who is also minister of finance, was referring to the possibility of a major cash infusion from the federal government's $2 billion strategic infrastructure fund.

Premier Stephen Kakfwi, deputy premier Jim Antoine and Handley met with their federal counterparts in Ottawa earlier this week.

The three heard the thing they wanted to hear most -- that the $2 billion will not be distributed to regions based on population.

"They're looking at infrastructure projects that will make a difference economically," Handley said.

"There's no thought of any allocation by population."

The message the NWT politicians were conveying is that the Northwest Territories cannot cope alone with the toll mining and oil and gas development is taking on the highway system.

Unlike the south, where governments can cover the strain on infrastructure development brings with royalties from non-renewable resource development, in the NWT those royalties flow to the federal government.

The territorial government wants $100 million from the infrastructure fund. Handley said the federal government is considering providing funding to provincial and territorial projects a 50-50 cost-sharing basis.

If that funding formula is followed, and the territorial government gets the $100 million it is asking for, it would mean a $200 million increase in spending on highways over the next four years.

Handley said the money would be used to finish reconstruction of Highway 3, pave the Ingraham Trail to Tibbitt Lake, build bridges on the winter road running north from Wrigley to Fort Good Hope, start work on an all-weather road to Tuktoyaktuk and improving the Dempster Highway.

Another project, not included in the government's non-renewable resource development strategy, that will be targeted for funding is a Mackenzie River bridge.

Government officials are currently working on a funding proposal they hope to put before the federal government within the next few weeks.

Handley estimates it will be the fall before the federal government makes any decisions what projects will receive funding.