Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to bring the attention of the House to some of the cost overruns on previous projects in the Northwest Territories. One that comes to mind, Mr. Speaker, is the northern corrections facility which was started off with an estimated $28 million. Mr. Speaker, after major increases to the cost of the project, the final total came in at $49 million, which is double the cost of the original estimate.
Whoa.
Mr. Speaker, another project that comes to mind is the Inuvik Hospital which started off at $24 million and after all is said and done, the completed cost was $45.5 million. Again, double the cost.
Whoa.
Mr. Speaker, infrastructure in the North is a challenge we have to face regardless of the economic and the logistical challenges we face. As a government, back then Class D estimates was a lot of times the way we went. A lot of times we underestimated these projects, but I believe the government has now made a decision to make it mandatory to come forward with a Class C estimate. Again, hopefully that improves our prices. Mr. Speaker, in light of the discussion around the Deh Cho Bridge, I want to make it clear to the public that I do support the Deh Cho Bridge. For $15 million, we should get the project done.
Mr. Speaker, talking about bridges, another bridge that comes to mind is the Bear River Bridge. The original estimate was $25 million. That project went out to a request for proposals and came in at $45 million; again doubling in cost. Now the latest estimate is $60 million for the Bear River Bridge.
Mr. Speaker, realistically, bridges are a costly endeavour. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to illustrate to the public that we have had these situations in the past and I don’t think the Deh Cho Bridge is going to be the last of them. We do have some major projects on the books. There’s the $100 million school in Inuvik, the school being built in Fort Good Hope and other big projects out there right now. Again, as government and being responsible for the public purse, we have to do a better job of assessing, evaluating and getting the best return on the dollar we spend. With that, Mr. Speaker, I will be asking questions of the Minister responsible for infrastructure on this matter later. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
