(The Associated Press distributed the following article on February 4.)
WHITEHORSE, Yukon Territory — The prime minister of the Yukon Territory is planning to give his approval to studying the possibility of a northern railway.
Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie met privately with new Prime Minister Paul Martin late last week in Ottawa. The premier had recently attended a conference in Juneau, where proponents, including Fentie, talked about studying the idea of a railway through Alaska and the Yukon down to connecting tracks in British Columbia.
Fentie talked to Martin about Canada responding to appeals by the United States to work together on a feasibility study to look at building the rail line. Martin told the premier he would put the rail issues on his priority list.
He also committed to telling his officials to work on responding to the United States that Canada would take part in the study, Fentie said Friday.
In December 2000, former president Bill Clinton signed a bill into law which set aside $6 million to spend over three years to look at the feasibility of a northern railway. The money would go to putting United States citizens on a committee to conduct the study.
The money was contingent on Canada joining the study with the same number of representatives on the committee. But since Clinton approved the bill, Ottawa has refused to respond the American request to join the review.
At the Juneau conference, Fentie and other supporters of the railway, like Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski, said the next step would be to get Ottawa to agree to take part in the study.
Last year, then-transportation minister David Collenette said he liked the idea of looking at the northern railway, but other people in Ottawa didn’t think it was important enough to spend money on.
Fentie said there seems to be a change in Ottawa’s position.
“With Mr. Martin’s good offices … we should see some positive change,” the premier said.
For Canada to take part, it will probably have to shell out a similar amount to the $6 million Washington has already pledged.