Joe Handley

Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the nature of the comments. I am not aware of the exact wording of the comments. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I expect that we will have a final design for the bridge by this fall. It will not be finalized until the environmental review is completed. We expect that to be in September. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We certainly won’t make the mistakes those city councillors made on that project.

Mr. Speaker, I’m generally aware of those two projects, two different situations. The Willow Creek Bridge goes back a number of years. There were some design problems with it. I expect that the Department of Transportation has learned from that. In terms of the other bridge where ice removed, it was a much smaller bridge but, again, one that we have concerns about, the inconsistent flow of water and ice in those small streams in that area. Mr. Speaker, the Deh Cho Bridge is a totally different kind of structure. It is a much larger bridge. It is one that the design is a very serious...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to my knowledge there has been a fair bit of geotechnical work on ice conditions as well as river floe done over the years. Looking at this site for a bridge is not something that’s new to this government or even the last government. In fact, there was a lot of work done in either the 12th or 13th government where a firm was contracted to do some of these studies. We do know that the water is swift at that site and the assessment that that is still the least expensive place for the location of the bridge. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, the GNWT has had minimal costs, in the neighbourhood of $200,000 or $300,000, that we have dedicated ourselves to the bridge project. We have, in addition to that, approved a loan guarantee for the Deh Cho Bridge project of up to $2.5 million over the last government and this current government.

Mr. Speaker, the Member asked two questions and I answered the first one. I will answer the second one, as well. The Deh Cho Bridge Corporation have, to my knowledge, basically finished the design for the bridge and we are waiting for cost estimates from them and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are now six months into the term of the 15th Legislative Assembly and much has been accomplished. In January, I told this House that I looked to the future of the Northwest Territories with enthusiasm. Since then, I have travelled to many communities and talked with many leaders and residents of the Northwest Territories. My optimism for the future has increased even more.

Today, I want to discuss how we have approached our work in the first six months of our mandate. I would also like to provide an overview of the strategic plan of the Government of...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Self-Reliant People, Communities and Northwest Territories -- A Shared Responsibility, Government of the Northwest Territories Strategic Plan, June 2004. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

But, Mr. Speaker, the Bridge Corporation are using the time that is available to them now to do more testing on the design of the bridge. They have made some changes to the design as a result of testing. They will be issuing a tender for the project, and we will take every step possible to ensure that there are no cost overruns. Mr. Speaker, on this size of project, that is a substantial challenge for the designers to be able to ever come up with a project that is going to be right on with no change orders. Mr. Speaker, the latest information that we have from the Bridge Corporation is...

Mr. Speaker, if you look at the agreement you will find that the GNWT’s contribution to the bridge when it is built is going to be the cost of operating the ferry, the cost of building and maintaining that ice bridge. Beyond that the costs for the bridge will be recouped through a toll. So whatever the price is, the GNWT is not assuming additional risk. The only risk we would assume would be if for some reason the bridge was never built. Then we have been guaranteeing loans to enable the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation to continue on with their planning and environmental assessment for the...