Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation some questions. The department has lots of contracts out there and I just wanted to ask him a little bit about the holdback policy for contractors. Typically how is it run and what’s the percentage, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, the policy to hold back a percentage of the contract is something that’s right across the government in all our contract practices. That’s to ensure that we have a product that’s free of deficiencies prior to releasing all funds. Thank you.
There’s probably different ways it’s written up, but typically at what point are the holdbacks released? Thank you.
The holdbacks are usually released upon the deficiencies being dealt with. Thank you.
The reason I’m raising it, I’ve got a business in my riding that ran into an issue with the holdback. I think the issue was that there were circumstances beyond their control and that led them to not cleaning up a site. I’m trying not to get into too many specifics, Mr. Speaker, but if there’s something beyond their control, will the department consider special circumstances with regard to that? Thank you.
We do take into consideration if there is an issue that has been unforeseen or an issue that comes about that is beyond our control. However, that has to be raised by the proponent and brought to our attention, and the rationale has to be drafted accordingly. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad to hear that answer that they will consider mitigating circumstances, and I will follow up with the Minister on the specifics of what I was talking about. Just one more question on the holdbacks. How soon are they typically released? Thank you.
I think it would be pretty evident that as soon as the deficiencies are dealt with and we’re comfortable that all is well, we usually do our best to get the holdback released. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
