You all forget that roads are a provincial responsibility. That means they fund at least half and they take care of maintenance or dictate who repairs etc. Of course this does not apply to private roads. HOWEVER the E/W road can not be private because it is not to only serve miners but also communities along the way. Feds should cough up the other half of financing due to cost savings that would benefit them in support of native communities.

Railways on the other hand are private and a province does not get involved with financing or maintenance.