Climate change is having a huge impact on the North and its infrastructure, it was agreed by provincial and territorial ministers of northern development and the federal Conservative government.

Local reporters were told that information last Friday afternoon.

'There will definitely be a need to address infrastructure,' Bob McLeod, the Northwest Territories' Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, said during a press conference from Ottawa.

The event was held by conference call Friday following the two-day forum.

All of the provinces and territories were represented at the conference with the exception of the three Maritime provinces, which are outside the Northern jurisdiction.

Stephen Rose, the acting manager of policy and planning for the territory's Department of Economic Development, represented the Yukon.

With this year's conference focused on development in the North, there was a lot of discussion on the impact climate change is having on infrastructure as well as reducing red tape and first nations issues, it was noted by forum members.

As McLeod pointed out, the N.W.T. is already experiencing issues on some winter roads leading to the diamond mines in the territory.

While no resolutions were passed at the meeting, McLeod, along with other representatives at the meeting, deemed the discussions as positive.

'It was a very successful meeting,' McLeod said.

Dennis MacKay, the B.C. MLA for Bulkley Valley-Stikine who attended on behalf of the province's Minister of Economic Development, Colin Hansen, said many of the problems B.C. is facing around climate change are also being seen across the country.

Rod Bruinooge, the parliamentary secretary for Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl, noted the impact of climate change on winter roads is being seen in northern communities throughout the country.

In his home province of Manitoba, for example, there's a number of winter roads that haven't been serviceable in recent years due to the changing climate. There's been some discussion around building long-term bridges in those areas to deal with the problem, he noted.

Bruinooge co-hosted this year's forum along with Strahl.

'In recent years, Canada's northern regions have experienced unprecedented growth and development,' Strahl said in a statement following the conference.

'It has become clear that governments and northerners must work together to respond to these changes and prepare to capitalize on opportunities for future growth. Moving forward, we will work with provincial and territorial governments to examine what steps we can take to address these challenges and realize the vast potential of this region.'

Officials in each of the northern provinces and territories will now be asked to establish two groups. One will focus on climate change, documenting and sharing anything being done to mitigate and adapt to the changes affecting northern development, while the other group will focus on the ministers' forum itself as it develops a proposal for the direction the forum will take and how to maximize the forum's impact.

'It's a collaborative approach,' Rose said of the working groups, also noting the launch of the Focusnorth website (www.focusnorth.ca) for the Northern Development Ministers Forum will be a positive for the territory.

It provides a number of links to northern jurisdictions including the Yukon, he said.

Rose commented that the increased focus on the North by the federal government can assist the region in its development and continued infrastructure.

Bruinooge noted the federal government is continuing to work on improving regulatory regimes.

'It's an area we're working quite diligently on,' he said.

Many of the provincial/territorial ministers at the press conference noted that while there's a need for some regulations, they don't want to over-regulate industries.

As John Hickey, Newfoundland and Labrador's Minister of Labrador Affairs, pointed out, doing business in the North can be difficult enough due to issues like weather, without having more regulations to deal with.

MacKay pointed out the B.C. government has reduced its red tape by 40 per cent after committing in 2002 to bring it down by at least 30 per cent when it found the impact regulations were having on business in the province.

Next year's session is set to be hosted in Yellowknife, with a focus on developing further tourism potential in the North.

McLeod said he's looking forward to hosting the 2008 event.