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Highway excitement builds
Officials await beginning of construction after funding approved by GNWT, Ottawa

T. Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, March 21, 2013

INUVIK
The new Inuvik-to-Tuktoyaktuk Highway project could also be called the highway to hope locally.

Official reaction to the news of the approval of $200 million in funding from the federal government – $50 million more than originally promised – and $99 million by the GNWT was almost universally positive.

"The news of the Inuvik-Tuk Highway moving ahead was indeed good news, for all the right reasons," said Mayor Floyd Roland. "On the local level it means we can keep people working in the near future and it means we can continue to grow our economy. For example, with this road we can expand on our tourism potential, whether that be road traffic or visitors renting vehicles here in Inuvik and driving the newest link to the Arctic Ocean.

"On a regional/territorial level it also opens a corridor to the fields of opportunity in our natural-resource-rich country."

Roland was quick to praise the federal government for its funding.

"On a national scale we can say that this builds on the commitment made by the prime minister to focus on the North through the Northern Strategy," he said. "This strengthens Canada's position on Northern sovereignty."

Tuktoyaktuk Mayor Merven Gruben was also excited about the news. He said some work was already beginning on the Tuk end.

"It's more than enough money to get it started," he said. "It's what we asked for, which is good. We've worked long and hard on this. It's a happy time for the North."

He expected the construction to last three or four years.

Nellie Cournoyea, the chair of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC), was also quick to sing the praises of the project.

"We are very pleased that Prime Minister Harper has made this commitment to the completion of the road which will connect Canada from coast to coast to coast," Cournoyea said. "Completing the highway will fully realize (former prime minister John) Diefenbaker's dream of a road to resources and for the first time connect the rest of Canada to our Arctic coastline – a major step in protecting Canadian sovereignty in the far North."

Cournoyea added that the "road will facilitate economic development in the region and will create both short-and long-term employment and business opportunities for Inuvialuit and all residents of the region.

"Our hope for the future is that easier access will encourage onshore and offshore oil and gas development and set the stage for further investments in the future."

Cournoyea and the IRC would offer no reaction to comments made in the legislative assembly March 8 by Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, who said he would like the Inuvialuit to waive its royalty fee on gravel for the highway project.

"It would prove they have skin in the game. To my knowledge they are not funding this project at all," said Hawkins.

Hawkins said this is a problem, and he would like to see the Inuvialuit invest in this project.

"They have zero investment in this game and all the gain," said Hawkins.

Inuvik Chamber of Commerce president Newton Grey took a more cautious approach to the news. He told a tourism stakeholders meeting March 14 that the town should immediately begin planning its tourism strategies to adapt to the highway, since Inuvik will no longer be the "end of the road" and won't be able to count on a captive market amongst those who drive into the North.

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