Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to touch base from what we heard yesterday in Committee of the Whole and what the Transportation Minister, Mr. David Ramsay, said during his opening budget comments on the northern portion of the Mackenzie Valley Highway system.
Admittedly, the Minister clearly has indicated that we have reached what he referred to as an important crossroad on this project. For the record, I agree. According to the Minister, the formalities of the environmental approval is imminent for the project to go forward, and with 85 percent of the design of the highway complete, the department has now sent a postcard to the Prime Minister’s office of an updated cost estimate of $299 million. I guess we better start ordering the party hats, or should we?
I stood in this House on a number of occasions now, and I said I would support this project if the math was sound and if all the risk was clearly laid on the table. I stand firm on this commitment to the people of the Northwest Territories. I wish I could rejoice with the Department of Transportation on this announcement, but I do have some grave concerns on the current math that is before this House, and I further have questions on the lack of the formal risk matrix of the project.
With all the excitement in trying to rush for the upcoming construction season, Minister Ramsay has failed to provide to this House the formalities of what is still unknown about this project such as:
With 85 percent design completed in preparation of this updated cost estimate, what if the remaining 15 percent of the highway is plagued with design issues or complications?
Does the cost-sharing agreement with the government take into consideration the already $12 million spent by taxpayers in doing our due diligence for this project?
Do we know for certain what total royalties will be paid to the Inuvialuit Land Administration for buying their gravel?
What should happen to the cost-sharing agreement with the territorial taxpayers if the project exceeds $299 million of that threshold?
Are we accountable for 100 percent of the overages?
All the public wants is a fair and reasonable presentation of all the facts before this government pressures this House to hurry on closing this deal. Therefore, it is with protecting the public purse in mind that I’ll be asking some of these fundamental questions to the Minister of Transportation later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
