By David F. Rooney
MP David Wilks says he has made a $5 billion pitch to Prime Minister Stephen Harper to fix the Trans-Canada Highway sections that pass through Mount Revelstoke, Glacier and Yoho National Parks.
“I eliminated the provincial government from the picture and put forward a proposal to twin the Trans-Canada Highway in the three national parks where the federal government is solely responsible,” he said during an interview for the RCTV cable program In Conversation on Wednesday morning, February 11.
The province has already begun to twin portions of the TCH between Kamloops and the Alberta border. The stretch of highway between Revelstoke and Golden is acknowledged to be the most dangerous piece of roadway in the province and Wilks said he wouldn’t be surprised if it was the most dangerous in Canada.
The Conservative Party MP said that if approved the project could nonetheless take a decade to complete. However, he also noted that the federal government has already approved money to light up the snow sheds along the TCH.
You can watch the entire interview on RCTV’s Channel 6 on Wednesday, February 11, at 5 pm, Thursday, February 12, at 7 am and Friday, February 13, at noon.
Wilks also met with City Council at the start of its regular meeting on Tuesday, February 10.
He told Mayor McKee and Council that he would give what support he can to their efforts to secure funding from the federal Canada Builds Fund for the Big Eddy Waterworks Project. However, an MP’s ability to lobby is limited and Wilks told them that several communities in this riding are among the many that are also seeking funds for key infrastructure projects.
Please activate the You Tube video player below to watch MP Wilks’ discussion with City Council. Wilks is the first person to appear before Council so he should begin speaking at about the three-minute mark on the video.
