Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following up on my Member's statement earlier, and realizing the comments made to the replies to the budget, my first request to the Minister of strategic infrastructure, when will the Minister submit phase two environmental assessment conclusion request on a timeline? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Minister responsible for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, the focus at this time is to conclude phase one, which is the section that was approved now some governments ago between Wrigley and Norman Wells. That is what is in the environmental assessment stage right now. That's where we have a work plan that we're executing with the Pehdzeh Ki First Nation with a view to having everything filed with the board by July and therefore they can then conclude their process thereafter and to looking to have no extensions to the process. Phase two would extend the roads all the way up to Inuvik. There is significant interest in this. We're working already with the Gwich'in Tribal Council and looking to have all the governments along the way indicating their readiness to see this move forward. And also the department is starting to work with the board to see what we can do, in fact, to move this process forward more expeditiously. There are a number of ways we could potentially do that. The Member raised a few in his statements, and it would certainly be our expectation that we will find a path forward that accelerates a move on completing phase two. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad to hear that we're realizing the value of the old 2013 data.
My next question there, Mr. Speaker, with the federal budget 2025 announcement this past November, can the Minister commit to providing PKFN and GTC with project SEED money from the avenues available? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this point in time my hope is that we will see some additional funding coming in the near future through some reallocations that we're looking to do. So the Mackenzie Valley Highway roadway itself, outside of the environmental assessments, had some allocations made in the 18th Assembly, projects that didn't move forward back then, and we're looking to take that money and actually put it towards this work to get it done now, projects that are shovel ready today, including the idea of community readiness, so working with the communities along the highways, making sure that they are able to participate, actively participating, engaging with their communities. We want everyone on this road to know exactly what's happening, to be ready, and to be able to support the project as it goes forward. That will make all of the board processes go more smoothly, and it's my hope that that will be happening in the near future. If there's additional needs to be coming -- that need to come forward, certainly SEED projects are available with ITI. But I'll make sure that our community engagement teams are there and working with the communities to make sure that they can be involved effectively. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains. Final supplementary. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my possession, I have the tabled draft document there done by the Sahtu Secretariat called Securing Canada's Link to the Arctic. So I'll be sharing that.
My last question there, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain or share if the department is drafting or completed the Mackenzie Valley Highway federal engagement strategy. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Mackenzie Valley Highway has formed one part of this government's federal engagement strategy now since the inception of this government, and certainly continually looking to adapt that as we go forward, adapt to changing federal government and changing federal landscape and budget. But I would say, you know, there's also a very simple response, which is that every Minister raises these key issues and key opportunities with federal counterparts whenever we have the opportunity, whether it's Premier, myself, other colleagues. So there is a formal engagement strategy there. I'll make sure that to pass on to the Premier's office, that that gets recirculated. But, again, those conversations happen constantly. We want to ensure that the federal government sees this as a project that is ready to move, easy to move, and has a pathway to move forward. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
