Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the record, I do support the Inuvik-Tuk highway. What I’m going to be questioning here later is the process on how we get there.
Less than a year ago, the Auditor General of Canada brought forward to this House their statements or findings regarding the Department of Transportation and their handling of the Deh Cho Bridge. My question today will be around some of the findings in that study that have to do with the risk matrix. The risk matrix, Mr. Speaker, is what worst-case scenario could happen, and would have happened, and did happen, and quite frankly we know, with all due respect, that the Deh Cho Bridge had a lot of things that went astray.
So my question for the Minister of the Department of Transportation is: What has the Department of Transportation and the Minister of Transportation learned from the Deh Cho Bridge project as it pertains to risk management to the risk matrix? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we move the Inuvik to Tuk Highway Project forward, obviously a risk matrix is going to be an important factor in this construction. We have to learn from lessons in the past, but again, the parallels that some Members like to make between the Deh Cho Bridge and the Inuvik-Tuk highway are unwarranted. We have a willing and able partner in the federal government that’s contributing $150 million to the Inuvik to Tuk Highway Project and we will develop a risk matrix and we will continue to move the project forward. Thank you.
Thank you. I do appreciate the Minister’s comment regarding the partnering, but again, risk matrix is more than just a partner. There are a lot of elements behind it and I’m sure the Minister is aware of that. So having said that, do we have any preliminary findings of a risk matrix that can be shared with the people of the Northwest Territories as it pertains to this new project that is on the floor? Thank you.
Yesterday in the House we approved the $2.5 million in the supp. That will enable us now to go out and do that work that will, again, push us towards developing a risk matrix for the Tuk-Inuvik highway. So I want to thank the Members that supported that yesterday. Again, we will continue to make sure that the project does move forward. Thank you.
Thank you. Again I thank the Minister for his comments, but at what point can we expect to have a full risk matrix for the Inuvik-Tuk highway and will this critical piece, which is an important piece I think for the Members and the people of the Northwest Territories to have, will we get this information and will it be available before we get past that point of no return when it comes to proper funding?
Thank you. We’ve got to get out, get the geotechnical work done, the environmental work done, ensure that the environmental assessment is complete, get the financing arrangement with the federal government complete and get a better estimate of what the project is going to cost, and I think once all that work is done, we will be able to ascertain what the risks are associated with the construction of the highway between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. So that, again, that work is going to proceed and we will at some point in time in the very near future develop that risk matrix for all Members to see. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
