Mr. Speaker, this past Saturday I took part in a cavalcade of four wheel drive vehicles that made the journey from Agassiz to Pemberton along the west side of Harrison Lake, past Port Douglas and Lillooet Lake. The purpose of the trip was to publicize the exciting potential of widening the existing forestry roads into a secondary highway.
The mayors of Agassiz and Pemberton, MLA Barry Penner, and a group of experts from the provincial government were there as well. Entrepreneurs and business advocates made the journey too. All of us were impressed with the possibilities that would go hand in hand with increased accessibility.
There were also representatives from some of the native bands that live along the route. While development could also provide economic opportunities for them, their needs are more basic. Right now some of these bands must live without electricity and phones, without access to education and medical care, even without year-round road access. The things we take for granted are simply unavailable to them.
I urge the ministers of Indian affairs, federal infrastructure and economic development to listen closely to local residents and representatives to see what role the federal government could play once the provincial government tables a report on this alternate route as early as October of this year.