Aboriginal report calls for Northern Infrastructure to Support Development

20 January 2016

(Yellowknife, NT – January 20, 2016) The NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines (Chamber) supports the conclusions offered in the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board’s (NAEDB) recently released report. The primary conclusion is that the significant infrastructure deficit in Canada’s North acts as the predominant barrier to economic and business development in the region and the improvement of the quality of life in northern Indigenous communities.

The report, Recommendations on Northern Infrastructure to Support Economic Development, identifies that “… each dollar spent on Northern economic infrastructure has the potential, if invested wisely to generate $11 of economic benefits for individuals and $11 of fiscal benefits for governments. Investment in Northern infrastructure has the potential to result in significant positive benefits for Northerners through the positive impacts on communities that increased investment in infrastructure would bring and through the development of job opportunities and strong and diverse economies that support community well-being.”

President of the Chamber, Gary Vivian said, “This excellent report hits the nail on the head – we need action to address our significant infrastructure deficit here in the north. Infrastructure development will help us reduce our high northern costs of living , enhance business, will support mining and other resource development, and will allow us to be net economic contributors back to Canada.”

The NWT and Nunavut have excellent opportunities for new roads, energy systems and ports. Road projects include: the Tlicho Road which would support a community, a mine and an area of known high mineral potential, the Manitoba-Nunavut road which would serve communities and mines, the Mackenzie Valley Highway, and the Slave Province road, a nation building project which would allow access to some of the richest mineral potential in both Nunavut and the NWT. Energy projects include: a plan to link the three stranded hydropower grids in the NWT to southern Canada, a proposal to bring less expensive power from Manitoba to Nunavut, and hydropower for Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut. New Nunavut ports have been proposed for Iqaluit, Gray’s Bay and Bathurst Inlet.

“The release of this report is very timely”, says Vivian. “We have a new Federal government proposing infrastructure investment and stressing the importance of economic opportunities for indigenous Canadians. And our newly elected NWT Government is finalizing its own Mandate for the next four years. We urge them both to make infrastructure a part of their action plans.”

The NAEDB report was produced under the Chairmanship of Chief Clarence Louie and its Northern sub-Committee under Hilda Broomfield Letemplier. Read the NAEDB post here, and download the full report here.

For more information on the NWT and Nunavut mining industries, please visit the website at www.miningnorth.com or contact Tom Hoefer, Executive Director at Tel: 867-873-5281 or email: executivedirector@miningnorth.com