A proposal by the Nunavut territorial government could see a winter road connect the territory to northern Manitoba.
The proposal, which was discussed at Nunavut Legislative Assembly in Iqaluit on Sept. 14, would link the territory to the Manitoba winter road system at Tadoule Lake.
An existing winter road connects Tadoule Lake with several other communities in Manitoba, including Brochet and Lynn Lake.
The road was one of seven project proposals sent to the federal National Trade Corridors Fund last month, with the goal of improving existing infrastructure in the territory.
The territorial government is also aiming to receive funds from Infrastructure Canada to build the road.
“Funding under that would be a considerable amount,” said Nunavut MLA Monica Ell-Kanayuk.
During the legislative session, Nunavut premier Peter Taptuna said some northern Manitoban communities had supported the idea.
“Through the Hudson Bay roundtable, we do have specific discussions and through that organization we know that northern Manitoba supports the winter road, an all-weather road eventually, to connect northern Manitoba to the Kivalliq region. That’s always a possibility,” said Nunavut premier Peter Taptuna.
Taptuna also wrote a letter to Manitoba’s Provincial Legislative Assembly to gauge interest of building a road link between Nunavut and the province.
”The winter road would be a boon to your northern economy,” wrote Nunavut premier Peter Taptuna in a letter to Manitoba’s Legislature last month.
“It will provide the only transportation corridor from Nunavut to the rest of Canada and it will create seasonal employment and business opportunities for business and northerners in Manitoba and Nunavut,” wrote Taptuna.
A previous proposal to build a winter road to Churchill was altered after overland flooding damaged the rail line that runs to the town earlier this year.
In 2012, a proposal to build an all-weather road between Rankin Inlet and the community of Sundance was dropped. The proposed road was estimated to cost more than $1 billion and would have taken an estimated 15 years of construction to complete.
