SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Roy Keith Byram, C.M., O.Y.

Honourable senators, lately Canadians have often heard “Building Canada Strong.” On December 11 of last year, 31 of our country’s best were honoured by the Governor General of Canada and invested into the Order of Canada.

I would like to speak of just one of those who were honoured — someone who has built Canada’s North strong and enhanced Canada’s reputation internationally for construction excellence in extreme cold climate conditions: Keith Byram.

Keith’s engineering work has included construction work throughout the North — in B.C., the Yukon and Alaska — on the Alaska Highway and the Dempster Highway, part of Diefenbaker’s Roads to Resources. Yes, he also designed the pedestal for a DC-3 plane, the world’s largest weather vane at the Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport.

Integral to success is a strong family. Keith’s wife Gwen and their daughters Karen, Lori and Jennifer are a family involved throughout the business Pelly Construction.

In 1989, there were no large hard rock mines operating in the Yukon. Budgets for road construction were minimal. Pelly Construction was doing major roadwork in Alaska. Keith, the entrepreneur-engineer, had carried around a little piece of paper from a trade magazine. It was a tender notice to build a runway in Antarctica for the British Antarctic Survey.

Keith showed it to Gwen, and her immediate response was, “Are you crazy?” To which he replied, “It’s what we do.” One of the greatest adventures for the Byram family and many Yukoners began.

Winning the contract for the runway construction was one part. Relocating people, construction equipment, food and supplies from the Yukon to the Antarctic in time for two short construction seasons was another.

It included transporting the equipment from the Yukon to Skagway, Alaska, barging it to Vancouver and loading everything onto ships to transport the operation to Antarctica.

The numbers help to truly appreciate this story: three ships, 100 containers of materials, 1.25 million litres of fuel, two tugboats, five 35-tonne Caterpillar rock trucks, three bulldozers, two loaders, two drills and two crushers, plus a grader and 70 employees. Oh, and there were also 14,400 cans of beer.

The complete story of the Antarctic runway has been published in the words of Keith and his family, with the assistance of Patricia Cunning and the MacBride Museum, in a beautiful volume released in January 2025.

For those lucky enough to travel to Antarctica, you likely landed on the runway that the Pelly Construction crew built.

Keith, the Byram family and Pelly Construction are also known for their generous philanthropy, notably to the Yukon Hospital Foundation and the construction of Mount Sima ski hill, as well as the Whitehorse food bank and local cultural organizations.

Keith, we are truly grateful to you, the Byram family and Pelly Construction. We honour your contribution to Canada and the circumpolar world. You have led and continue to lead the way, building and strengthening Canada here at home and on the world stage.

Thank you. Shä̀w níthän. Mahsi’cho.