Mr. Speaker, I'd like to further question the Minister of Transportation on some of the items he raised in his comments to me.
I think he said the Deh Cho Bridge organization at Fort Providence was chasing $50 million as one of the potential sources of revenue. I’d first like to get some clarification on that. When shall we get some feedback if this is going to be a reality, and when was this applied for?
Mr. Speaker, my understanding is the $50 million request to the federal government was put in during the 15th Legislative Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, my constituent raised a concern about an infusion of federal cash, as I’ve highlighted already, and it sounds like some work is being done. I certainly look forward to it being successful.
The other issue that they raised — which I think is a very good one — is how is this going to play out on the tolls? Are we expecting an adjustment in the potential tolls being under $7 at this point, with the cost of the bridge? Does it have an effect on the tolls if we do get the $50 million applied to the greater cost of the bridge? What is going to be the adjustment on the tolls, and what are the tolls today?
Mr. Speaker, should we get a favourable response from the federal government in terms of the $50 million that has been requested by the Deh Cho corporation, this would certainly significantly lower our toll fees; it would significantly lower our contribution to the bridge; and it will certainly have an effect in terms of the basic toll fees, which are under $7.
Mr. Speaker, a number of us — although, obviously the Premier knows very well, not all of us — are in favour of the bridge on this side. I am certainly in favour of it, and that hasn’t changed since I came back to this House.
The constituent that I am raising this point for is definitely in favour of the bridge as well, but they are concerned about the bread-and-butter issues of this bridge.
As I have always understood it, the tolls are set in such a way that according to local industry, it is going to cost about $250 for a truck to cross this bridge. How will that affect your milk and your eggs? That's the real issue. Regular folks care about bread-and-butter issues.
I want some assurance from this Minister that the tolls are on track. Can he make sure that they are still at the original price, which was just under $7 per ton?
Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that the bread-and-butter issues will certainly go down, in terms of this bridge being put in. We will have a number of factors to be considered, and I would let the Member know that once the dust has settled on this whole issue, in terms of sitting down and going through the exact numbers…. If I quote a number here, it may be taken and used in future discussions. I want to say to the Member and the rest of the House that the numbers that we have looked at…. I want to give assurance to his constituent that certainly, the whole goal is to bring the cost of living down, through this project.
As the Premier has indicated, the cost of the tolls would be looked upon by other resource developments happening in the North Slave Region.
I want to say that in terms of a project of this magnitude, we certainly rely heavily on the federal government. The community of Fort Providence and this government are going after funding in terms of putting key infrastructure in the Northwest Territories to reduce the cost of living in the Northwest Territories. That is where we will continue pushing on the bigger picture of bringing in some good infrastructure. That will bring the cost of living down for all people of the Northwest Territories.
