Photo Courtesy University of Calgary

By Tanner Smith

Infrastructure

U of C wants residents input on infrastructure concept

Sep 28, 2022 | 9:26 AM

The University of Calgary is doing research about a national infrastructure concept – The Canadian Northern Corridor – a connected series of pathways linking northern Canadian communities and is coming to Grande Prairie to get input from residents.

Program Director for the Canadian Northern Corridor Research Program, Kent Fellows says a concept like this can only help communities grow. From lessening the strain on the economy to easier travel and even helping the environment by using a different approach from Canadian infrastructure planning and development, called ‘Multi-Modal right of ways. It requires extensive research and input from people that experience life in these areas.

“First off, we’re not a project proponent we’re a university… so we’re studying the concept and because of that our program doesn’t have a preconceived notion of where infrastructure might go in and around Grande Prairie. That’s one of the reasons we want to come to talk to community members – what is useful and what is valuable for community members in Grande Prairie.”

Fellows says they would like to look into different ways to create more flow between communities similiar to in southern Alberta, to hopefully lead to a better overall quality of life for people in northern Canada , with a lasting impact on the economy.

“One thing that often gets missed in these discussions – if you’re waiting for let’s say a project proponent to come to say ‘oh we want to put a pipeline here or we want to put a rail line here’ often – that conversation is about extraction and export right? We hear a lot, especially in Western Canada about getting our goods to market, but the thing that is easily forgotten is: trade when it works properly, works in both directions.”

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He adds it’s important for them to come up with ideas to connect communities and begin exporting and importing goods from these northern regions. However, they also want to focus on doing these projects in the most sustainable ways possible, which is when ‘Multi-Modal right of ways’ comes into effect.

“The way we think of it (Multi-Modal right of ways) is this idea of there’s a lot of benefits of co-locating this infrastructure. So thinking about running a rail line close to a highway, so if something was to happen to the highway you have the railway and vice versa, same thing with utilities, electricity, transmission.”

Fellows says their concept of building infrastructure reduces the footprint created by big projects with having everything made in one central location instead of the traditional Canadian infrastructure planning and development way of scattered projects; limiting the effects of clearing forests or other less environmentally friendly things needed to build in rural areas.

All residents in the Grande Prairie area are invited to join and give their input at the Canadian Northern Corridor concept engagement session on Thursday, October 6, at 6 p.m. at the Ballad Training Centre.

Picture of The Program Director for the Canadian Northern Corridor Research Program, Kent Fellows