Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Oral Question asked by the Member for Great Slave on March 30, 2022, regarding a contingency plan if the Department of Infrastructure and the contractor are not able to come to an agreement on the Inuvik Airport Runway Extension and Civil Improvements project.
The Department of Infrastructure abides by the GNWT's procurement policies when it comes to considering contractual approaches and making decisions on negotiating a contract.
Under the current 11.26 Negotiated Contracts Policy, contracts are not negotiated in the Legislative Assembly. Only the Executive Council can authorize the negotiation of contracts outside the competitive process and, upon authorization, this process takes place between an authorized eligible contractor and the technical team.
Mr. Speaker, the Executive Council reviews each request to negotiate a contract against the established criteria that's in our policy and aims to make decisions and recommendations that provide fair and broad distribution of training, employment, and business opportunities, while also ensuring value for money.
Requests to negotiate a contract for projects that receive federal funding may also need to be approved by the Government of Canada, depending on the terms of the funding agreement. This is the case with the Inuvik Airport Runway Extension and Civil Improvement Project. The procurement approach must be consistent with obligations that are under the internal and international trade agreements.
Both the joint venture and the GNWT’s technical teams have resumed negotiations to determine solutions to the funding gap. At this time, the technical team is focused on options with the objective of realizing a way forward to follow the process outlined in the Negotiated Contracts Policy.
Should those negotiations be successful, the project will proceed and should they not be successful, the GNWT will return to Canada and our Cabinet to be able to discuss potential next steps.
The Department of Infrastructure is continually striving to upgrade the infrastructure at the Inuvik Airport to meet changing operational demands and improve the airport’s resiliency to a changing climate.
While the federal government has committed to provide some additional funding for the project to be able to address inflation and supply chain costs, subject to due diligence the exact value and timelines are not yet known.
We expect this extension and civil improvements project to create economic opportunities for the region throughout construction. The Department of Infrastructure remains committed to making contracting decisions that will best maximize benefits to local, northern Indigenous businesses and residents within available budgets. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Returns to oral questions. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.
