Transportation funds come North
Det'on Cho Corporation looking at projects to submit for newly announced $400 million
Michele Taylor
Northern News Services
Friday, July 7, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Transportation in the North saw a nice boost from the feds with the announcement by the Transportation Minister Marc Garneau on July 4 of $400 million over the next 11 years.
The funding comes as part of the federal government's $2.1 billion National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF), which will provide support toward infrastructure, including ports, waterways, airports, roads, bridges, border crossings, rail networks and interconnectivity across Canada.
"Investments through the Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative will make a big difference for Canadian businesses. It will allow them to get better access to international markets by addressing critical bottlenecks and ensuring that Canada's transportation networks remain cost competitive and efficient," Garneau stated in a news release on Tuesday.
Although the money has been slated for the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon, there has been no word on how those funds will be allocated between the territories. It could very well be based on the number of submissions received from each territory.
Expressions of interest which are to be submitted by Sept. 5, are open to governments at the municipal and territorial level, indigenous groups, not-for-profit and for-profit private sector organizations, federal Crown corporations and port and airport authorities.
Andrew Livingstone, the senior communications advisor for the GNWT's executive and indigenous affairs department, stated in an e-mail the territorial government is pleased with the announcement.
"We do not yet know how much of that funding will be provided to the Northwest Territories specifically but continue to meet with the federal government to receive additional details regarding funding allocations," he stated.
Paul Gruner, president and CEO of the Det'on Cho Corporation, said the corporation will be considering how it or its partners will be able to access those capital dollars.
The corporation is the economic development arm of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.
"We will certainly be looking at this to understand what and if there are projects that we would like to submit forward," he stated in an e-mail to Yellowknifer.
"If there is an opportunity that we can access some of these dollars for a project or with our partners we will certainly explore that."
One of the concerns is how that $400 million will be split among the three territories, Gruner said.
"Based on the amount, geographic area and time frame it will be important for us to get a better understanding of how and when the budget will be allocated," he stated, adding if the money was split evenly between the territories it would result in an average of $12 million per year for the NWT.
The NTCF fund is expected to help improve the flow of supplies to Northern communities, unlock economic development in the territory, and create jobs for Northern families.
Funding could go to some projects that are already in the works, such as the Tlicho all-season road, the Slave Geological Province Access Corridor and the Mackenzie Valley Highway.
The announcement could be good news for Yellowknife if the Slave Geological Province Access Corridor is one of those projects put forward for a piece of that funding.
The access corridor has been a consideration since the late 1950s with its first feasibility study taking place in 1998. The government of Nunavut is already in process to applying for federal funding for three-quarters of the cost of its $487-million Grays Bay portion of the Access Corridor.
The Grays Bay project would connect the shores of the Northwest Passage between Bathurst Inlet and Kugluktuk to the NWT's winter roads.
Coun. Adrian Bell, who is also deputy mayor, said it would be hard to say how these investments will impact Yellowknife without knowing which projects the GNWT will be submitting for funding.
"Whichever road offers the best potential return on investment (economic, not symbolic) should be the priority," he said.
"The symbolic importance of infrastructure projects seems to have been given more weight than their economics for the last decade or so. That has to stop. The proposed road into the Slave Geological Province would have an enormous impact on the territorial economy."
With environmental and wildlife assessments ongoing for many of these projects, Bell said there is the possibility of missing out on funding because the infrastructure just isn't there to put together a proposal by the September 5 deadline.
"My biggest fear is that, given the short timelines, the GNWT may choose to pursue projects that require less lead-time to begin construction," he said. "If we're not far enough along with the Slave Geological Province road, a huge opportunity will be missed - and we'll only have ourselves to blame."
