Mr. Speaker, I wasn’t going to ask another question, but I’ll have to ask one more question here.
What evidence has the Minister of Transportation got at his disposal that is going to indicate to him that the cost of living will not go up with the building of the Deh Cho Bridge at Fort Providence?
Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that the outcome of the Co-op study here in Yellowknife has shown that the cost of living will go down in Yellowknife.
Now, I will be happy to sit down with the Member and any other Members of the House to show this study, as done by the Co-op, is an analysis in terms of the cost of living if we should — and when — get the bridge built across the Mackenzie River.
Mr. Speaker, that Co-op study, the one that was done with local retailers, that was in 2002–2003. A lot has changed since then, Mr. Speaker. The price of gas has gone up tremendously. People can’t afford to heat their homes here in Yellowknife.
Everything that comes across that bridge, Mr. Speaker, is going to cost more. Why is it going to cost more? Because there’s going to be a toll put on transportation or transport trucks that are going across that bridge, and the cost is going to be passed on to consumers here in Yellowknife, in Behchoko, and in the rest of the North Slave Region.
And nobody in the last government and nobody in this government has shown me one iota of proof that proves me wrong, Mr. Speaker — that the cost of living here is not going to go up. I think they should come clean on that evidence too, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. When can they give us that?
Mr. Speaker, the costs are going up every day as we have this discussion. From 50 years ago, this bridge was deemed at $6 million for the Northwest Territories. It cost too much. And today, here, we’re talking about over $160 million.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to work with the Members here in terms of the price, in terms of the cost of living. I would like to work further with the department in terms of working with other departments, other agencies, other organizations, in terms of showing that the cost of living is going to come down. The Member’s pointed out that the price of fuel is going up, is increasing on a weekly basis. That’s the high cost of doing business here.
However, Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to work with the Members here and to work with my department to see if some of the latest reports in terms of indications show that once the bridge is built, the cost of living would be going down.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The time for question period has expired; however, I will allow the Member a supplementary.
Mr. Speaker, the last government showed a blatant disregard for residents here in Yellowknife and in the North Slave Region by not going out to stakeholders that were going to be impacted by the construction of this bridge project. This government is doing the same thing. It’s a blatant disregard for people when you don’t provide the evidence that is going to indicate the cost of living is not going to go up.
Again, I’m going to ask the Minister: has he got any proof or evidence outside of this study that was done five years ago that indicates that the cost of living in the North Slave Region is not going to go up? Where is that evidence, Mr. Speaker? The cost-benefit analysis they provided us with suggests the cost benefits are going to go down by $80 million. Where’s the other evidence?
Mr. Speaker, industry today has shown that once you start hauling freight and fuel over to this side, it costs us more money to store it. It costs us more money to have the freight stored at the different locations of the retailers in Yellowknife and also in Behchoko.
Mr. Speaker, the government put more money into tolls in terms of bringing the costs down. There is evidence that the cost of living will be going down once we have this bridge built.
Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, well, if the Minister is adamant that’s the case, how come the last government and how come this government isn’t going back out to stakeholders and trying to find out exactly what the building of the Deh Cho Bridge will do to the cost of living here in the North Slave Region? How come they haven’t gone out and done that and talked to stakeholders, Mr. Speaker?
You can’t expect the Minister to answer for the last government, but on the 16th Assembly, Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, the bridge corporation will be going out to the stakeholders, will be going out to the public in Behchoko, Yellowknife, Fort Providence, Hay River — wherever they need to be, and they’ll go and have discussions with the people. They’ll be talking to certain key stakeholders to say that this is what is going to benefit the people in the Northwest Territories. I have been speaking with the bridge corporation, and that’s the plan — to go out and talk to the stakeholders and continue on with discussions.
This bridge is going to be built, and there are going to be benefits. I think that’s something we have to look at long term. I think the bridge corporation has already made some remarks in terms of a commitment to talk to the stakeholders.
