Debates of August 20, 2007 (day 13)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Premier. I want to say the Minister responsible for the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation, which would be the Minister of Transportation, but for my arguments today and my questions, I would like to ask the Premier. Getting back to my Member’s statement earlier, nowhere in the Deh Cho Bridge Act does it say that a bridge across the Mackenzie River should be built at any price. What the Deh Cho Bridge Act does is give the government the ability to negotiate, on behalf of the residents of the Northwest Territories, an agreement. But the problem, Mr. Speaker, is that Regular Members on this side of the House have not been party to any of those negotiations. The project has gone from 60 to 70 million dollars to now $150 million. What residents here in Yellowknife and the North Slave region want to understand and have is peace of mind. I think the government should come clean on a cost-benefit analysis on the Deh Cho Bridge project based on those current numbers. That is $150 million and that is $6.75 a tonne today and in 2010 when that bridge is going to be completed it will be over $7 a tonne. I would like to ask the Premier how come there has not been a cost-benefit analysis on the Deh Cho Bridge project with current numbers? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Return To Question 151-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The bridge is a result of negotiations for financing, contracting, consultant services, oversight and so on. There is a whole range of negotiations going on. That kind of analysis is an ongoing exercise. Mr. Speaker, I give the Members assurances that that bridge at today’s prices is doable for $6 a tonne in 2002 dollars. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 151-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that is 2002 dollars. It is five years later. The cost of those tolls is going to be $6.75. That is in today’s dollars. When the bridge is constructed, it will be 2010. You can rest assured, due to inflation, those costs per tonne are going to be over $7. Again, I would like to ask the Premier, where is a cost-benefit analysis of the Deh Cho Bridge project based on current factual information? That is $150 million. That is $7 a tonne. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 151-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am really disappointed that the Member is so reluctant to move ahead with an important piece of infrastructure here. Clearly, he hasn’t seen the empty store shelves, the shutdown of construction projects because there is no material, the mines to construction industry, everybody being affected by this let alone the number of students who can’t fly home at Christmas. There are no assurances and so on.

Mr. Speaker, when we come to negotiations, we don’t negotiate this in public any more than we negotiate most things that are negotiable in public. We are elected. We will do the negotiations. We will assess whether or not it is viable. We will go ahead based on whether or not it makes good economic sense. Mr. Speaker, the bridge, as the Member has said, is roughly $6.75 per tonne for heavy loads going North in today’s dollars, exactly what it will be 10 years from now or five years from now, I can’t give any assurances for 20 years from now, but it is indexed. It was indexed based on a formula in 2002. That is all doable without having to ask anyone to bail out of the bridge somehow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 151-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, all I have been critical of with the government is I just want to see the proof. Show me the proof and I can support the project. The government hasn’t been able, for whatever reason, to show me the proof that the cost of living in Yellowknife and in the North Slave region will not go up if this bridge is built.

I would like to ask the Premier if these numbers, that is $150 million, that is $7 a tonne or $6.75 a tonne, has been shopped around to stakeholders here in the North Slave region. I am talking about industry, transportation companies, municipalities, chambers of commerce, the Tlicho Government and the Akaitcho Government. Has the government spoken to those organizations, Mr. Speaker? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 151-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just find it really odd that of all of the public infrastructure we build, the MLA would choose this one to say we need to have all of the facts. Are we going to have to do this every time we replace a culvert or pave or chipseal a piece of road? This is a piece of infrastructure. We don’t do that often. We do our assessment. We run good government and we make sure that what we are doing is in the benefit of all of the people of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I just don’t understand the reluctance here. Mr. Speaker, do we talk to everybody? Yes, we have talked to everybody going back to 2002. We have talked to everyone about this. Now, as I say, we are not negotiating everything in public. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 151-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a big difference between building a culvert and building a $150 million bridge, that is a kilometre across the Mackenzie River. There is a huge difference there. I think the government and the Premier has all but admitted it. They haven’t gone back out with the new numbers. Sure, we talked to people in 2002. That is when the project was 60 to 70 million dollars. It is $150 million now. Is the government going to go out and consult with the stakeholders? The cost of living is going to go up here in the North Slave region and the government should go back out and should consult with the public. That, to me, is good government, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 151-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some of us believe it is our job in this Legislative Assembly, it seems, to just keep consulting and consulting and studying and so on. Some of us believe it is our job to do things. Mr. Speaker, we are going to do this. We are not going to every step of the way go out and get people’s opinions again. We got people’s opinions since 2002. We know we have a good deal. We know it is workable at the $6 a tonne in 2002 dollars or $6.75 today and something else in 2010 when it is completed. We know it is good for Yellowknife, the North Slave region and the mines. It is another important piece of infrastructure. We are going to go forward with this unless something really goes sideways on a final contract. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.