Yellowknife (May 29/06) - New roads will be crucial for further development of the oil, gas and diamond industries in the NWT.

That's what Dennis Bevington, the Western Arctic MP, said during a Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce luncheon last week.

Dennis Bevington, Western Arctic MP, speaks to a business luncheon crowd at the Department of National Defence building in Yellowknife. Building new roads is one of the first steps in creating a thriving economy in the NWT, he says. - David Ryan/NNSL photo

Road infrastructure in the NWT is not standing up to changing conditions, he said. More development must occur to attract more business and link communities.

"Every community that wants a road needs to have a plan to get a road."

All-weather roads would reduce costs in the oil and gas industry, he said.

"We need to link communities by road as much as possible."

Orderly and planned development will be key steps to developing the potential oil and gas industry in the NWT, said Bevington.

"The gas and oil industry cries out for infrastructure. It cries out for planning, it cries out for firm direction on how to do this."

"This is not simply a pipeline for $7 billion, it just the tip of very large industry," said Bevington.

Infrastructure for road creation needs to happen in the Sahtu region and to Gordon Lake via the Tibbitt to Contwoyto ice road, said John Carter, executive director for the NWT Chamber of Commerce.

"It's a federal responsibility to build infrastructure," he said.

The federal government takes out billions of dollars in revenue royalties, said Carter, and it has two choices on how to put money back into the Territories.

It can either build the infrastructure now, or start sharing the royalties with the GNWT so they can build the infrastructure on their own, he said.

"You can't put us between a rock and a hard place and that's where we are right now.

"We have the demand for the infrastructure and we don't have the ability to meet the demand," he said.

The Northwest Territories must look at providing different types of energy sources for development, including hydroelectric power, said Bevington.

A strong and organized labour force in the Territories is also crucial for development, he said.