Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the House was once again witness to another announcement of more money being required by the Department of Transportation and its Minister for the sinkhole we all know as the Deh Cho Bridge.
Many MLAs and many more residents of the NWT are extremely perplexed on how this department and its Ministers cannot seem to complete large-scale projects on time and on budget.
Moreover, it seems this time the department had to negotiate an agreement-in-principle within an already negotiated contract price in order to get the work done. I’m not sure if many people picked up on that but, Mr. Speaker, this is absolutely absurd.
The Minister and department claim they had few options as the work has fallen behind schedule and the opening of the bridge this fall was in jeopardy. Excuse me, Mr. Speaker, but isn’t this what negotiated contract pricing clearly defines when both parties sign a contract? Furthermore, what about the concept of holdbacks? As the client, why aren’t these options being leveraged and exercised?
They’re not, Mr. Speaker, because this government is trying to save face with the general public in committing to a November 2012 opening at all costs and our current contractor knows this, hence the so-called, “Pony up, GNWT, if you want to see your bridge built this year.”
It’s painfully obvious that this government is setting a pattern of concern in how it deals with cost overruns for large-scale projects and negotiated contracts. It’s only a matter of time when this Member will bring further examples into this House that will prove this point once again.
To all of you 41,462 men, women and children in the Northwest Territories, the Minister of Transportation just asked you for another $241.18 each this week to make him look good. But don’t worry, this pales in comparison to the final bill you’ll get under your door when you see your invoice for just under $8,900. No, the GNWT does not take PayPal.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, wish to speak to the Deh Cho Bridge concern and issue. Yesterday we heard the Minister speak in his Minister’s statement regarding an agreement that they’ve reached that could run us up to a capped $10 million. What stood out specifically for me was they’re confident that both parties are committed to the success of this project. Of course, I’m more confident that Ruskin has figured out how to keep draining more money out of the GNWT coffers and the territorial government continues to roll over. If I may coin it in a typical sense of partnership, I would call this more of an abusive relationship than certainly a partnership.
Quite frankly, what happened to the fixed contract we were told time and time and time again? How many more figurative RSVPs will be told and sent out into our mailboxes that we’ll be getting ready for? Will the opening date be pushed back one more year? Besides, how much more money will it cost taxpayers?
I remember one Member on this side of the House many years ago constantly talked about who is going to pay, who is going take responsibility for this particular project. It’s gone from $140 million to $160 million to $180 million. Now it’s well over $200 million.
All I hear about now on the street is, as the old slogan used to go, between a rock and a hard place. Well, people are now saying, well, I hate to be between a bridge and a hard place. Frankly, the citizens are getting tired of this. I’m getting tired of being held hostage to this particular project. How much more money does it continue to cost the taxpayers?
I’ve been a strong proponent of this particular project from the beginning because I believe in the concept. It’s the management. I’d like the Department of Transportation to stop negotiating with a blank cheque that’s sitting in the hands of Ruskin waiting for them to fill in the number.
Enforcement clauses were always written into all contracts, but apparently for this Deh Cho Bridge contract they must have been written in invisible ink. What happened to the day when a contract was a contract? I look forward to that being finally satisfied. To be frank, we’re spending a lot of time, energy and money on this particular project and now the biggest critic is the champion. We need to see results on this. How much more money will it cost the taxpayers?
I will have questions later today to get to the bottom of some of this. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are about nine months into this government here, and in that nine months I have heard a lot of concerns, a lot of asks and a lot of community concerns from this side of the table. All my colleagues have heard of Highway No. 7 quite a bit. I have heard access roads to gravel sources so the roads in the communities can be maintained. I have heard schools that need washrooms, who need new schools. Some communities haven’t had a school retrofit for a long time. Myself, we are looking at getting a child development centre. If it’s not done, two-thirds of the kids who are accessing that school are going to lose out this year.
I just read in the news that Colville Lake’s airport runway just got washed out yet again. However, we are going to have to tell these communities that we are going to have to put these back on the backburner. Why? Because of the continuing saga of the Deh Cho Bridge.
It is something that we have been dealing with for a long time. Up until yesterday, up until the Minister gave his statement in the House and all the media reports that I have heard on the news this morning, I didn’t feel the frustrations until yesterday that all Regular Members past and present feel about this project. The mismanagement of funds, signing off on a project that wasn’t even complete with the planning process, for it to go ahead and yet now we are paying for those prices again. It has even bankrupted a southern company. It removed one of our Aboriginal groups out of the process. It is just continuing.
I believe, being new to this government, this is the third time that this government is coming back into this House asking for more money. I am not sure when it is going to stop. I do sure hope that this is the last time it’s going to stop, because there are too many concerns from our communities.
I haven’t heard the concerns from my colleagues across the floor, their concerns for their communities, the projects that they need, but I am sure there are some. Like I said, we are going to have to put that back on the backburner because of the money that we are continuing to put on the capital projects such as the Deh Cho Bridge.
I would like to see this project completed so that we can start focusing more on our small communities, our communities where we can start putting projects and money for the buildings. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
