Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member’s statement, I believe that the Deh Cho Bridge process has had many challenges. Mr. Speaker, I also want to clearly say that I don’t think a 9 percent increase on this project is a scandal, by any measure. Mr. Speaker, what I think is the true scandal of this project is where is Ottawa’s help on this potential project. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation, when was the last time Ottawa was asked for money to help support this project? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my information tells me that the last time a request was put into the federal government was in the life of the last government. It was brought initially forward to the Transportation people and I think the issue was then moved to the Finance department. In the government we have not sought to renew that request. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to know why hasn’t a financial contribution to this project been pursued at our ministerial or Premier level to the federal government, again, to support the cost of this project. Why hasn’t anything been pursued since? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the indications that we had from the federal government was that either this project to have to move forward as a P3, because the project had started already prior to the P3 program becoming active and having the board set up, we didn’t qualify. We had been also asked to be considering using the Building Canada funding for the bridge if we thought that his was a high enough priority. At the time it was decided that there were many other projects that could utilize the Building Canada funds, therefore, that’s where we would invest, as the bridge project already had financing arranged. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, my clear evidence of this House, many Members asked many questions repeatedly. Not just once. Not just twice. Not over one year. Not over five years; maybe even longer than that. Mr. Speaker, the point being is that many Members continue to challenge that mighty mountain by raising an issue up and saying we’re not going to give up. So has the government given up on Ottawa, and if they haven’t given up on Ottawa, when can we expect another letter asking for financial support for this particular project? Because I can guarantee you that there is no infrastructure project across Canada of this nature that would be left in the dark by Ottawa’s support. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, right now we don’t have any current plans to be formulating a request to Ottawa. We don’t see a program that would allow us to have any dollars invested from the federal government. However, having said that, I don’t think that it would stop any informal discussions with the federal Ministers to see if there are any potential avenues for them to invest. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’ve explained that I believe this is where one of our serious problems lies. Would the Minister commit to this House to work with the Premier to make sure we get a letter off to Ottawa, whether it be the Prime Minister, one of the infrastructure Ministers, whether it’s the Finance Minister? Personally, I don’t really care who. The fact is we need to make sure we get a letter to one, if not all of them, explaining how important this project is to this Territory. Would the Minister make sure, loud and clear in this House, that he’ll commit that a letter of this nature will get done right away? Thank you.
I certainly can commit to working with the Premier to see what options there are and what involvement the federal government could be requested to assist us with in this situation.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
