$69M for water, sewage infrastructure announced in N.W.T.
$21M for Yellowknife; 19 other communities to share money
Twenty communities across the N.W.T. will receive funding to improve water and sewer facilities, Amarjeet Sohi, the federal minister of infrastructure and communities, announced in Edmonton Tuesday.
The funding is part of a $69 million agreement between the federal and territorial governments.
Ottawa will pay for about 75 per cent of the work — or $52 million — with community governments providing the remaining $17 million.
"These strategic investments create economic opportunities for our residents and businesses," said the N.W.T.'s minister responsible for infrastructure, Robert C. Mcleod, in a news release.
$21M for Yellowknife
The federal pot of money includes $15.9 million to replace aging water and sewer pipes in Yellowknife. The City will be pitching in about $5.3 million for the upgrades.
Mayor Mark Heyck said he learned about the cash this morning.
"We have a lot of areas of the city that had their water and sewer pipes put in many decades ago and we've seen, over the years, deterioration of a lot of that infrastructure but we simply haven't had the resources to go out and fix it," he said.
"This will give us the opportunity to proactively fix this infrastructure so we're not stuck doing emergency repairs in the dead of winter."
The City of Yellowknife is also receiving $320,000 to make its public transit system more accessible. That money will go to creating accessible bus stops, sidewalks, wheelchair ramps and bus pull-out areas.
Fort McPherson, Fort Resolution
The community of Fort McPherson will get $4.2 million to upgrade its water treatment plant and Fort Resolution will be creating a sewage lagoon for the community with the $1.9 million it will be receiving.
Mcleod said the territorial and federal government received applications from communities across the N.W.T. asking for about $75 million worth of funding. He said it was a difficult job to narrow it down to 20 communities.