Trudeau promises to help build East Side Road, connect nothern First Nations

By: Mary Agnes Welch Posted: 10:32 AM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2015 Last Modified: 7:11 AM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2015 | Updates

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Justin Trudeau promises a Liberal government will help build the East Side Road, one of the province's costliest but quietest infrastructure projects.

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Justin Trudeau promises a Liberal government will help build the East Side Road, one of the province's costliest but quietest infrastructure projects.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/09/2015 (3674 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Justin Trudeau promises a Liberal government will help build the East Side Road, one of the province’s costliest but quietest infrastructure projects.

The Manitoba government has already begun work on the project, which will take 30 years and cost roughly $3 billion. Despite lobbying, the federal Tory government has so far been unwilling to help fund the project, even though First Nations are a federal responsibility and the planned road network will help connect more than a dozen remote bands in northeastern Manitoba.

“The full answer is yes, the federal government will be the partner Manitoba needs in order to deliver the infrastructure that is required,” said Trudeau during a stop in Winnipeg Tuesday morning. “I don’t feel that it’s up to the federal government to decide which line needs to go where on a map. We will work with provincial, municipal and First Nations partners to determine what is the right infrastructure.”

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau greets former Liberal cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy during a stop in Winnipeg Tuesday. — BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau greets former Liberal cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy during a stop in Winnipeg Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Trudeau said he would help fund the project from the extra $60 billion he’s pledged to add to existing federal infrastructure spending over the next decade, if that’s what the Manitoba government wants.

But the pledge highlights the complexities of federal infrastructure programs, especially when funds are typically doled out based on population. Small provinces such as Manitoba, whose per capita grants don’t add up like Ontario’s, have trouble funding very large projects while also keeping up with more mundane road, water and sewage-treatment and transit needs.

Manitoba’s per capita share of Trudeau’s new $125-billion infrastructure fund amounts to just over $4 billion spread over a decade. But it doesn’t appear as though a northern highway would meet the criteria of Trudeau’s new fund, which is earmarked for transit, social projects such as housing and green infrastructure such as sewage-treatment upgrades.

Instead, the Liberals said the cash for the East Side Road would likely come from the existing Building Canada Fund, which includes the federal gas tax that trickles down to municipalities. Under Trudeau’s plan, that fund would no longer be used for transit, housing and green projects, freeing up more cash for projects such as the East Side Road.

Ernie Gilroy, CEO of the East Side Road Authority, said Ottawa has so far “steadfastly” refused to discuss funding for the new all-weather road network. And, if Ottawa chips in for half the cost of the road — roughly $1.5 billion — that would eat into any per capita funding for the province, leaving far less for smaller projects.

Gilroy said what’s needed is a deal similar to the one that built the $665-million floodway expansion, which got federal cash for strategic infrastructure of national importance, over and above the regular per capita funding.

“We would make the argument that this is of national significance,” said Gilroy, who is a Liberal. “First Nations issues are really at the forefront of a lot of political discussions now.”

The Manitoba government has been spending more than $75 million every year for last seven years on the road project, and the authority has planned for roughly $100 million a year from now on.

Gilroy said, if the federal government committed to share the cost, it would take 15 years instead of 30 to complete the road network, a timeline that could dramatically improve access to health care, on-reserve job creation and affordability.

“One generation won’t have to sit out their opportunity to connect to the outside world,” said Gilroy.

Premier Greg Selinger said the East Side Road is one of the province’s top infrastructure priorities, one his government has raised with Ottawa.

“We’ve always said a federal partner would be welcome,” said Selinger. “We think it’s an important priority for the future of the province.”

Asked about the Conservative party’s commitment to the East Side Road, a party spokeswoman said the party plans to invest $80 billion in infrastructure over the next decade.

maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca

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Liberals would talk land claims with Métis

The Liberals would start negotiating a land-claim settlement with the Manitoba Métis Federation and spend more on economic development and training for Métis people.

The Liberal leader made the announcement by press release Tuesday, not during his stop in Winnipeg earlier in the day.

He pledged to establish a negotiations process to deal with the outstanding issues raised by the Supreme Court of Canada in a 2013 decision that found Canada bungled a land deal that ended the 1870 rebellion.

And, he pledged to review existing federal programs for Métis people to find gaps, boost funding for the Aboriginal Strategic Employment and Training Strategy by $50 million and spend $25 million over five years on economic development strategies in Métis communities.

The Liberals also pledged permanent funding instead of year-to-year cash for Métis groups working to identify and register Métis people.

— Mary Agnes Welch

What’s the East Side Road?

It’s actually a series of roads linking more than a dozen remote First Nations on the east side of Lake Winnipeg, including the cluster of fast-growing bands around Island Lake.

It includes two main elements — a road up the east side through Bloodvein, Berens River and Poplar River, and an east-west route across Northern Manitoba connecting bands such as Oxford House and Garden Hill to the northern highway system.

The real work started about five years ago and it’s expected to take 30 years and cost at least $3 billion, in part because of the remote, boggy terrain. But, advocates say it will improve economic development and quality of life in communities that only have ice-road access for a few weeks a year.

So far, the road has been completed all the way to Bloodvein First Nation. Berens River is next and will be done by winter, 2019. The East Side Road Authority is also building access roads connecting Little Grand Rapids and Pauingassi to the main route.

Planning and exploratory clearing is well underway for the east-west portion through northern Manitoba that will see several bands able to connect to the highway network near Norway House. Instead of waiting years for those roads to be built, the Authority is already building bridges that will help improve the winter road and can be used on the future all-weather road.

— Mary Agnes Welch