Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to address my questions today to the Minister of Transportation. I understand that we finally have a signed contract for the construction of the Inuvik-Tuk highway. Apparently it is a guaranteed price. I am very glad to hear that, but I am extremely skeptical that this project will be completed in the allotted budget.
I would like to ask the Minister of Transportation, first of all, knowing that any project endures changes to its original project description, what exists in this contract to protect the GNWT from cost overruns due to change orders as the project moves ahead? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have, as the Member indicated, a contract with the Joint Venture group up in the Beaufort-Delta. No one has ever run a project of this type before with this type of material on this type of terrain, so this is absolutely a new thing for this North and for anywhere in the world actually. We brought in the experts that we think can work with that type of material. As the material is put on the road and embankments are built, it comes down. We recognize that we’re working with a budget that is limited and we have a small contingency. It’s that small contingency that we would rely on to keep this entire highway on budget. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for that response. The Minister mentions a small contingency, but I didn’t hear him reference basically what would happen if we get a number of change orders and we have used up that small contingency. What then occurs if we have more change orders or we have more cost overruns that are required? What exists in the contract that can guarantee to me, as a Member overseeing this project and looking after the finances of the government, what exists in that contract that will make me feel better about the fact that we are not going to have cost overruns? Thank you.
We do recognize that a project of this magnitude does have some risks associated with it. The only guarantee that we do have is that we’ve negotiated with the Joint Venture group, we’ve negotiated with a group of contractors, big contractors actually, that we felt were in the best position to build this highway with the amount of money that we were putting into the highway. That is the thing that we have to back us up. We can’t provide a solid guarantee that this is going to come right in on budget, but at this point this is how all contracts start. We come up with a price, we negotiate a price, the contractors tell us they can do it within that price and we’re confident that they can, so we proceed. Thank you.
I guess I have to say to the Minister that that doesn’t give me much comfort. What is the purpose of negotiating a price? What is the purpose of having a guaranteed contract if there is no guarantee that we won’t go over cost?
I understand that there are still a number of financial elements that are being negotiated that haven’t yet been finalized. I would like to ask the Minister what elements of the project are still under negotiation and have yet to be finalized. Thank you.
We do have a cost for all components. The one risk is that the material that would go on the very last application and the very top granular material is a little further away from the actual road than we would like. There could be some risks associated there, but generally we have our numbers and we are proceeding with the budget in every area at this point. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that there are risks. My concern is that these risks are out there. Once bitten, twice shy. I went through the bridge project, as did the Minister of Transportation, so I think he knows why I am a little circumspect.
I would like to ask the Minister, knowing that this is a big project, knowing it’s going on for a number of years, if he will be providing updates to Members and to the general public as the project progresses. Will he let us know not only how many kilometres have been completed, but an accounting of how much has been spent and whether the project is on budget? Thank you.
We have an oversight committee with Cabinet to ensure that our level, that we are continuing to communicate with each other, staying on top of the project. The project is cash-flowed, so the work that is scheduled is cash-flowed and we anticipate that we will be following the cash flow and the construction simultaneously, and at the end of the day, I am anticipating that the project will finish. If the project, in any way, shape or form, is starting to exceed the cash flow, we are going to know immediately. We also committed to continue to provide updates to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
QUESTION 35-17(5):
INUVIK EMERGENCY
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a follow up to my Member’s statement and I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. With the emergency wet shelter happening in Inuvik and some of the research that’s been done in Alaska such as in Nome and Juno, how is the Minister staying on top of this pilot project that has already shown some great success in just over the two months in terms of services being provided as well as a number of residents and a number of things happening in the community such as less call-outs and disturbances, those kinds of things? How is the Minister keeping in contact with the health authority and other partners to ensure that the project is continuing to move in a positive manner? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. CEOs regularly communicate with the Department of Health and Social Services in all sorts of initiatives that are going on within their jurisdiction. This happens to be one of them. I do know that the community was very eager to have this shelter and was a proponent for doing it. We continue to have dialogue with the community organizations who have put this together and we are hearing positive feedback on a regular basis. I look forward to further discussions, or the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority having further discussions with those organizations about future opportunities as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We’ve said in this House time and time again, I guess you could say we’ve criticized the government and the Department of Health with regard to a lack of programs and services in areas of mental health and addictions, specifically detox facilities. That is something we really tried to get to the point here. This project itself serves a great purpose in terms of detox under a supervised setting and also doesn’t exhaust resources of the RCMP or the medical staff at the hospital.
With such a great project in place where people can go if they are intoxicated – a wet shelter – and be supervised during the night, would the Minister be willing to commit further funding in future budgets to such a project, specifically the one in Inuvik which is already over the two months due to heating costs and other expenses, have already gone over budget with the money that was provided to them from the initial start-up costs from the health authority? Is the Minister willing to commit future funds to this project? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
During this fiscal year that we’re currently in, we allocated $75,000 in the Beaufort-Delta for a day shelter in Inuvik, and the community approached us and indicated that they would prefer to actually have the damp shelter that the MLA is talking about. These dollars that were allocated in 2013-14 are ongoing funds, so when the budget is approved for ‘14-15, we will have the same dollars carrying forward. Thank you.
Thank you. As I mentioned in my previous question, the budget that this organization is already working with is already over budget with the initial start-up costs, and although we are going to continue to have this money allocated on a yearly basis, there are still some costs that need to be covered to ensure that the service is provided only during the winter months, but the heating costs in Inuvik, as we all know with the Inuvik gas situation, are pretty high. So, I was wanting to get a commitment on whether or not we will see extra funding going into this with this project moving forward. Thank you.
Thank you. As I indicated, there’s $75,000, and should the budget be approved for ‘14-15, there would be $75,000 for that fiscal year as well. As far as additional costs and additional start-up costs, I’m certainly willing to have a conversation with them, but we don’t currently have anything in the budget for additional costs above and beyond the $75,000 allocated. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I mentioned how this can be the layout or the blueprint to lay out the framework for future shelters throughout the Northwest Territories and not just Inuvik.
Just to the Member’s previous question, in addition to Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority, I’d encourage the organizations who are interested in providing these shelters to apply to the NWT Housing Corporation’s Small Community Homelessness Fund to see if there are any opportunities there given that the individuals who are often attending these facilities are homeless.
As far as this being a template, I just want to remind the Member that as a government we don’t operate shelters. The authorities fund organizations who operate shelters to meet the needs of their communities, but as the Member has clearly articulated, this shelter is working and it’s getting some really positive results, and obviously we’re interested in learning from successes of ours as well as our partners and sharing that information as much as possible.
So, it is early days. We need to really see how this plays out over the long term. Today it looks good and we will continue to monitor and share information as it comes in. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
