Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to provide some clarity around the issues at the Inuvik Airport. Media has reported that the need to dig a trench is the issue; however, it appears upon further investigation this is not correct. The real issue with the airport project and why a delay now could cost this construction year has to do with the permafrost our coldhearted friend that causes so many headaches for engineers and contractors in the North.
Due to ground conditions, construction of the runway expansion in Inuvik requires that the design and construction factor in the protection of the permafrost. Similarly to how the ITH was constructed, the design calls for layers, or lifts, of granular material to be directly placed on top of the frozen ground. The layer then acts as a buffer, keeping the ground under the construction permanently frozen. This eliminates drainage issues and the ground heave that normally occurs with the freezethaw cycle of the active layer and provides a stable, frozen platform on which to execute new construction. If material is not placed this winter, under frozen conditions, the project will be delayed a year.
Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that the execution of this project has been backwards. Rather than starting with a functioning design and developing a subsequent realistic budget, the GNWT has instead taken the $150 million offered by the federal government and are now trying to force the design to meet the budget. The $40 million "overrun" described in the press is in fact the additional amount of money required to meet the material specifications that the GNWT is asking for specifications that may not align with conventional construction methods on permafrost.
Mr. Speaker, I have spoken about how decisions made by this department during the construction of the ITH have led to its degradation in only a few short years. Cuts and changes were made to material and design specifications based solely on budgetary considerations and now we have a road that doesn’t function as designed.
Are these same senior bureaucrats now making engineering decisions, outside their capacity, which may result in our first major project with the DND going sideways?
I’ve often spoke about the need for 100 percent federal dollars and that the DND investment in infrastructure is a way for us to achieve this. Now I worry that, given how the project is shaping up, that the federal eye will wander to the east and west of us and, yet again, the NWT will be the losing territory while the other two benefit. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Colleagues, before we continue, I'd just like to recognize former Member, former Minister, and former Speaker, Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty. Welcome.
Members' statements. Member for Thebacha.
