Belanger Says Harrison Taking Too Much Credit

Belanger Says Harrison Taking Too Much Credit

Thursday, November 24, 2005 at 14:24

Northern Affairs Minister Buckley Belanger is taking a swipe at northern Saskatchewan’s Member of Parliament.

Belanger feels Jeremy Harrison has been giving himself too much credit for the announcement earlier this year concerning the long-awaited road link from La Loche to Fort McMurray.

Specifically, Belanger is taking issue with pamphlets Harrison has mailed to constituents which state that Harrison delivered on his election promise to make the road link a reality.

Belanger says Harrison neglected to mention all the lobbying efforts of northern leaders, which Belanger believes had more impact than anything Harrison did on this file.

Harrison says he isn’t slighting the efforts of others.

However, he says, as a Conservative MP, he was in a unique position to influence Alberta’s Tory premier, Ralph Klein, to commit to this project.

Harrison is also convinced it wasn’t merely a coincidence that after years of lobbying, Klein finally came through within a year after Harrison’s election.