Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, I listened quite closely to the Premier’s Budget Address yesterday and questioned him a little bit earlier today on the Deh Cho Bridge project. I’m wondering, and I think the public is wondering, as well, why the single largest piece of public infrastructure built here in the Northwest Territories didn’t get one iota of a mention in his Budget Address. Perhaps the Premier can offer an explanation to me and to the public on why that omission was made.
The Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.
Mr. Speaker, with all the questioning and answering on the process for quite a number of years, I thought the members of the public had had enough. The project is in place, construction is happening, trucks are moving, loaders are working, and people are being paid to go to work.
There is also the amount of the discussion we had, as was made by Member Bromley, that the Budget Address.... I guess I could have been here for a lot longer going into much more detail about all the specifics. The fact is, when you take O&M and our capital expenditures, it’s almost $1.3 billion of expenditures. We didn’t talk about near enough of it, and that’s where we’ll be able to discuss that. That’s where it didn’t get mentioned.
Mr. Speaker, in the Budget Address there was no shortage of small announcements — $100,000 here, $200,000 there. So you would think on a project the size of the Deh Cho Bridge project that $165 million, committing the government for the next 35 years to expenses, and a bridge that supposedly — and I have yet to be proven wrong — is going to increase the cost of living.... The government says it's going to decrease the cost of living here in the North Slave region, but I beg to differ. I find it very strange that the government would leave a project the size of the Deh Cho Bridge out of this year's Budget Address. There's no question there, Mr. Speaker, but perhaps the Premier would like to comment on that.
Mr. Speaker, I'll work with the Member on the next Budget Address. Oh, wait. I won't be doing another. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
