The lack of infrastructure and large challenges in healthcare and education may be a serious barrier to economic development in the NWT, deputy premier Caroline Wawzonek warned federal MPs.
“There is a strong sense that the North is in a fragile state of transition,” Wawzonek told the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs on Tuesday.
“The promise of substantial economic development is starting to be realized, but clearly there will be costs involved.”
Wawzonek appeared virtually along with Yukon energy minister Ted Laking and Municipalité de L’Île-d’Anticosti Mayor Hélène Boulanger for the committee’s study on affordability challenges in the North.
The proposed Mackenzie Valley Highway, Arctic Economic and Security Corridor, defence investments and critical minerals are all poised to take off in northern Canada. Wawzonek implored the committee to follow through on these major projects.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
There is a “very real” risk that many northerners – particularly Indigenous communities – are ill-prepared to benefit from the anticipated prosperity and economic development due to persistent infrastructure and service gaps, Wawzonek said.
In Yellowknife, the cost of basic necessities is 36 percent more than in southern Canadian cities, she told MPs, adding that costs “rise exponentially” outside the capital city. For example, living costs in Fort Good Hope are 83 percent above Edmonton, largely due to transportation and energy costs, she said.
According to Efficiency Canada’s regional energy poverty data, 34 percent of households in the NWT are at risk of energy poverty, meaning a third or more of their housing costs go toward energy.
On October 8, the federal government unveiled a $2-billion heat pump program set to begin early next year, but this program is less useful in the NWT due to the high cost of electricity and the cold winters. Heat pumps are great, Wawzonek told the committee, but the federal government needs to think about other solutions that work in the North, like biomass.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
“Don’t just announce things in a large scale without thinking through the impacts to 40 percent of Canada’s territory,” she said in reference to the heat pump program.
The last federal budget included a commitment to conduct a review of northern and Arctic healthcare, with the aim of improving access to healthcare and reducing the cost of medical travel.
Wawzonek said the review has been delayed and Ottawa must get back on track and accelerate it.
“Don’t let that work go unfinished,” Wawzonek said. She also noted the last time there was a panel struck to study territorial formula financing was in 2006. The NWT relies on that financing – which is unconditional money from Ottawa, sent across each year – for much of its annual budget.
Starting on Thursday, the committee will study Bill C-37: the First Nations Clean Water Act. MPs will have the opportunity to call witnesses and make amendments to the bill.
