What will become of the East Side road?

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This article was published 05/09/2016 (3345 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What will become of the East Side road?

For those keeping score at home, the province’s ambitious plan to build a 1,000-kilometre, $3-billion all-season road up the east side of Lake Winnipeg has run into a series of problems that have put the future of the project in doubt.

First, the East Side Road Authority (ESRA), created by the former NDP government to manage the 30-year project, was disassembled by Premier Brian Pallister shortly after he won the April provincial election. Pallister had become concerned about rising administrative costs, and followed through on a campaign pledge to return management of the East Side road back to the Infrastructure Department.

Then, last month, the Manitoba Metis Federation threatened to seek an injunction to stop work on the road. MMF president David Chartrand has accused the province of refusing to consult on the project’s impact on traditional Métis hunting and fishing areas on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.

If all that weren’t enough, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has ordered the province to stop all work until a full assessment is completed on the next section of the road, a 94-kilometre stretch between Poplar River and Berens River. The federal agency, backed up by an analysis done by provincial officials, accused ESRA of significant “gaps” in its submission, in particular its failure to take steps to mitigate the impact on moose and caribou populations.

The trouble will likely continue this month when Manitoba’s auditor general releases a report on ESRA. Although no one will say for sure what the report says, there are rumours that the auditor found some issues. Suffice to say, the auditor general rarely produces a full report on a government agency because there were no problems.

Put it all together and there is more than enough reason to fear for the very future of the project. And that would be a tremendous shame.

More than 36,000 people living up the east side of the lake currently have no reliable mode of transportation to connect them with the south. That means everything that those people need — education, health care, housing, food and other necessities of life — is either prohibitively expensive or in short supply. Global warming has complicated matters by eroding the reliability of winter roads.

Along with its role as a lifeline to the south, the project was also destined to become a major source of employment and economic activity, providing aboriginal people and First Nations with opportunities to build, maintain and clear the road on a regular basis.

In almost all respects, the original 2009 commitment by the provincial and federal governments to build the road was a triumph of public policy. One that appears to have been undermined by poor oversight, incompetence and — potentially — some form of malfeasance.

The NDP and former premier Greg Selinger must shoulder most of the blame in this matter. The former government created ESRA and charted its course over its first seven years. As a result, Selinger will have to accept blame for any errors, whether of omission or commission.

It comes as no surprise that New Democrats are becoming increasingly anxious about the details of the forthcoming auditor general’s report. Having been humbled in last April’s election, the last thing the NDP needs is to spend the fall session of the Manitoba legislature fending off allegations that ESRA was involved in something untoward. Unfortunately for the NDP, that appears to be where things are headed.

However, the NDP’s mishandling of the East Side road does not relieve Pallister and the Tories of the obligation to save the project. This is a very worthy initiative, and every effort must be made to get it back on track.

That does not appear to be the approach being employed by the Tories. After dismantling ESRA, Manitoba’s new government has demonstrated very little interest in seeing the project continue.

Ottawa confirmed late last month that Manitoba has yet to make an application for funding to complete the East Side road. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to cost sharing the road in the 2015 federal election campaign. However, Infrastructure Canada told the Free Press that “a detailed proposal (for the next phase of the East Side road) has not been submitted by Manitoba.”

It could very well be that the absence of a formal proposal to cost-share the Poplar River-Berens River section of the road is another NDP misstep. That does not explain why the current government has failed to lay out a plan to seek that federal money to resume construction on the road.

Infrastructure Minister Blaine Pederson has refused to publicly comment on the future of the East Side road, despite several interview requests. The province has issued statements on the file, but refuses to disclose what if any plan it has to deal with the Métis legal threats, the federal environmental assessment process or the absence of federal infrastructure funds.

It is beginning to look increasingly likely that Pallister will put the East Side road into limbo, which would allow him to save millions of dollars in annual expenditures — something he desperately needs right now — while still claiming he supports the project in principle.

Pallister should not be blamed for the multitude of problems created by the previous NDP government on this file. And he should not be faulted for exploiting those errors and sins to gain a political advantage over his rivals.

However, at the same time Pallister must not use the current roster of problems — significant but not fatal — as an excuse to abandon this worthy and much-needed project.

If would be a colossal mistake if construction on the East Side road were never to resume. One that will be laid firmly at the feet of the current government.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca