Mr. Speaker, I want to ask some more questions of the Premier in regard to the Deh Cho Bridge process and project. It gets back to what I believe is a fundamental foundation for the reason for the project going forward during the life of the last government.
On a continual basis the Members of the last Assembly were told that benefits would accrue to the community of Fort Providence via the $5 million equity stake that the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation would have in the project. It was a guaranteed rate of return, Mr. Speaker. That money was going to do some good things in Fort Providence, so the last government told us. That situation has changed, and I’m wondering if the Premier could elaborate a little bit today on what the current disposition of that equity arrangement is with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation.
The concession agreement talks about a maximum $5 million equity portion. The Deh Cho Bridge Corporation has informed us that they do have their equity in place. It’s not up to the $5 million mark. That has an effect on the rate of return, of course.
Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the Premier would be able to tell the Members of the House and the public here in the Northwest Territories: who are the partners in the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation today? Mahsi.
I’m aware, because of our discussions around the concession agreement, that they do have their equity in place — again, not to the $5 million. I believe they’re right around the $4 million mark. They have a partner that’s partnered up with them, along with themselves and another corporation within, I believe, Fort Providence. I would have to work with them to ensure I can sit down and provide the information to Members. I’m not sure if I can make it public at this point.
Mr. Speaker, it’s a substantial amount of government public dollars going into a project, and we can’t find out who the partners are. That’s par for the course with the project and with the process, and I think that’s something, again, that’s flawed.
I’m wondering if the Premier could commit to making some type of announcement on who the partners are in that project. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: perhaps the government should take a look, if there’s a guaranteed rate of return there…. And I don’t want to come out and say who that partner is, either. But maybe the Government of the Northwest Territories should put in that equity if they’re going to get a guaranteed rate of return, rather than see it go somewhere else.
I'm sure the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation, once they get a record of what is stated here, will maybe have that discussion. They have put in place, right now, their equity piece. They forwarded it. That doesn't mean that can't change or shares can’t be bought out in the future, or a number of factors fall in place. The fact is the lower their equity, the lower the guaranteed rate of return. In a sense, that helps us as a government, but it doesn't help them out. I will look to putting the information together and providing Members with the information we can get to them.
I'm just wondering if the Premier could comment on the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation. I know they’ve had some struggles, and they’ve gotten to where they are today through a lot of hard work, but why has it taken so long for the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation to come up with the $5 million in equity? The foundation of the project, and the benefits, were going to come out of that $5 million, and if it’s not there today, it’s not the same story we were told during the life of the last government.
This project has definitely spanned a number of governments. And the processes that were established…. As I am aware, the bridge corporation is looking at doing a public information process in the very near future. I think this may be an opportunity to have a discussion with them to see how much information they would be able to provide and respond to that area and go forward on that basis. As the Government of the Northwest Territories, there is an impact, as I stated, on the amount of equity that's put forward and the rate of return that would go back to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation.
I have to apologize. I didn’t catch the last bit.
