All-Weather Road Lobby Group Visits Ottawa

All-Weather Road Lobby Group Visits Ottawa

Tuesday, December 16, 2003 at 14:40

The Prince Albert Grand Council’s Athabasca vice chief says he’s encouraged by a recent meeting with Ralph Goodale’s office on the issue of building all-weather roads in the province’s Far North.

Don Deronger says it was just a few days ago that he and three other chiefs were in Ottawa lobbying the government over the issue.

Deronger says part of the reason they travelled down east was to try and give the government a better picture of what life is like for residents in the Far North.

Deronger says discussions with this country’s deputy finance minister centred primarily around how economic development would be improved by a new road

network.

Deronger says they also discussed how the proposed road network would improve the overall quality of life for Athabasca residents.

He says another meeting will take place in the New Year shortly before the federal budget is released.

Deronger explains that while they haven’t included Indian Affairs in the discussions with Goodale’s office so far, they will at some point.