Tom Beaulieu

We do have a cost for all components. The one risk is that the material that would go on the very last application and the very top granular material is a little further away from the actual road than we would like. There could be some risks associated there, but generally we have our numbers and we are proceeding with the budget in every area at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have, as the Member indicated, a contract with the Joint Venture group up in the Beaufort-Delta. No one has ever run a project of this type before with this type of material on this type of terrain, so this is absolutely a new thing for this North and for anywhere in the world actually. We brought in the experts that we think can work with that type of material. As the material is put on the road and embankments are built, it comes down. We recognize that we’re working with a budget that is limited and we have a small contingency. It’s that small contingency that we...

Yes, the indication I have from the department is it would be completed in 2014. I would be pleased to meet with the community to advise them of that as well.

If the material to construct the airport is good material then the issue of them being off an all-season road is not an issue. However, if the material was not proper material then that becomes an issue, and that’s all I was trying to indicate.

I will go back to the department and look at the management team. We recognize that the Department of Transportation continues to work with the Sambaa K’e Development Corporation and also the contractor. Our organization, the contractor and the local development are working together to try to get this job done as quickly as possible, and the intention is...

We have an oversight committee with Cabinet to ensure that our level, that we are continuing to communicate with each other, staying on top of the project. The project is cash-flowed, so the work that is scheduled is cash-flowed and we anticipate that we will be following the cash flow and the construction simultaneously, and at the end of the day, I am anticipating that the project will finish. If the project, in any way, shape or form, is starting to exceed the cash flow, we are going to know immediately. We also committed to continue to provide updates to the Standing Committee on Economic...

We do recognize that a project of this magnitude does have some risks associated with it. The only guarantee that we do have is that we’ve negotiated with the Joint Venture group, we’ve negotiated with a group of contractors, big contractors actually, that we felt were in the best position to build this highway with the amount of money that we were putting into the highway. That is the thing that we have to back us up. We can’t provide a solid guarantee that this is going to come right in on budget, but at this point this is how all contracts start. We come up with a price, we negotiate a...

I don’t know the various costs of the components broken down into the cost of gravel and so on. As far as the royalties go, yes, we are getting close to coming up with a price that we’re both happy with between ourselves as a government and the land claim organization who owns the land. Thank you.

Like I indicated, we think we do have a good estimate. As the Members know, the money that we are getting from the federal government is not going to be just money given to us without us having proper estimates and so on. So before the money from the federal government starts to flow into our coffers, we have to be able to demonstrate to the federal government that we know what we’re doing and what the cost of the road is going to be. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as far as the loan goes and how the lender had pulled the loan from the…(inaudible)…is something that the department has looked at. At the time this had occurred, this decision was made; however, I don’t have the details of specifically what had occurred, what had occurred in the inner workings of the loan and so on. I am prepared to gather that information to start with. I can look at that information and determine if I do see that there was an issue wrong with it, then I will share it with Members across the floor. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as the Member may be aware, the Auditor General has looked at the bridge, and the mid-project performance review was completed by the Auditor General. All of the recommendations that were put in by the Auditor General were carried out by the department. As I indicated, information I have at this time, all indications are that there is not an issue and that anything that we are picking up during the monitoring and the usability of the bridge and everything, if there are issues, the department is carrying out corrective measures. Right now we are thinking that an evaluation of what...