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Frequent flyer Territorial minister talks highway, communications link during most recent visit
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, July 25, 2013
INUVIK
Michael Miltenberger is racking up the frequent flyer miles.
Miltenberger, who holds multiple portfolios in the NWT government, was back in town last week for the start of the Great Northern Arts Festival. It's the 25th anniversary of the festival, and the first time Miltenberger had been able to attend.
It's the "third or fourth time" he's been in Inuvik in the past two months, he said with a smile. Events, such as the festival and the signing of the devolution agreement, keep pulling him back to the Delta.
This time, he was meeting with Mayor Floyd Roland and other town officials to discuss "various issues."
"I've always wanted to see the Great Northern Arts Festival," he said. "I've never had the chance."
Miltenberger made some time to provide some updates on the latest news on the Inuvik-to-Tuktoyaktuk Highway as well as the Mackenzie Valley Fibre-optic line. He said both projects should help to stimulate the local economy, which could use the boost.
He chuckled a little when questioned why the highway to Tuk took precedence over any work on the proposed Mackenzie Valley Highway. That would have linked the NWT together more so than the Tuktoyaktuk highway, he broadly agreed.
"When you're the prime minister you can answer those questions," he said with a laugh.
That was an allusion to the funding the federal government has kicked in to help pay for the highway, with an estimated cost pushing $300 million.
The federal government, Miltenberger said, had its eye on that project, which is important symbolically to link Canada together from coast to coast to coast.
Miltenberger said that he expected the Mackenzie Valley Highway work will be facilitated by the completion of the fibre-optic line, which is using the same proposed roadway. A lot of clearing will be done during the process, he said, and services will be prepared for installation.
Unlike the Tuktoyaktuk Highway, which is expected to employ approximately 250 people or so, Miltenberger said the fibre-optic line is much less labour-intensive.
"They'll be moving pretty quickly on that one and with relatively few people on the crews," he said.
Miltenberger didn't have any immediate figures on how many of the people working on both projects will be Northern hires.
He speculated that most of the fibre-optic benefits will be more spin-offs from the greatly-enhanced Internet capabilities it will offer. That will include new satellite dishes and stations from international space agencies such as the Germans.
That project is still on-target and on budget, he said, with an expected completion date of 2016.
More work will begin on the Inuvik-to-Tuktoyaktuk from the Inuvik end later this year along Navy Road, Miltenberger said. So far, most of the activity has been at the Tuk end.
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