Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The question that I have today is for the Minister of ITI. Recently, the tender for the construction of a fish processing receiving plant in Hay River was cancelled. When I saw this, I concluded that it was due to the bid amounts received, which were considerably over budget. Can the Minister confirm the reason for cancelling the tender at this time? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct; the bids that were received for the construction of the new fish plant in Hay River were significantly higher than anticipated. As the Member is aware, demands on the public purse are high, and we want to make sure that we are fully considering these types of decisions. We remain committed to the revitalization initiative, and we want to move forward as quickly as possible with the fish plant. However, we have decided to take the time required to consider what other options we may have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Knowing the work that it takes to prepare a tender such as this, and knowing that only two tenders were received, has the Minister's department met with or considered meeting with the lower bidder to explore options that would bring the project within budget and keep the work, I guess, in Hay River?
The bids were very high compared to the budget, especially given that the budget was disclosed to the bidders at the pre-tender meeting in July. The gap was significant enough that we couldn't reasonably anticipate negotiating it down to within the budget. Cancelling the tender was the only option available to us to maintain an open, fair, and transparent process.
This does not mean that are not exploring options to bring the project budget down. One of the areas where we think that we may have some room to make changes is in the proposed fish processing lines and equipment requirements and the impacts that they will have on the building.
Will this project be retendered or sent out for RFP fairly soon?
That is one of the things that we must consider. Our first step will be to get some better understanding of why the bids were so high. Ideally, we will find a way to move the project ahead within the budget that we have, but this will take some time. While it is too early in the process to know how we will proceed, I will confirm to Members that we remain committed to building the plant.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This project is very important to not only the NWT fishers but the community of Hay River as well, in terms of employment and contracting opportunities. Will the Minister commit to providing me with an expected timeline to move this project ahead in a timely manner, once she has that? Thank you.
First, let me assure the Member that I recognize how important this project is to Hay River. Our plan will mean greater returns for fishers working on the lake. It will mean new jobs in processing, packaging, selling, and transporting NWT fish for market. When it comes to the plant, however, I will be fully transparent. The answer is no, we don't have a new timeline yet, but we will get one, and I will share that with you. While we consider next steps for the plant, we are also moving ahead with other elements of the overall revitalization strategy. We will be establishing a fisheries support officer to work out of Hay River. We are working with Memorial University to develop training programs around fish handling, processing, and filleting. We have partnered with the marine training centre to deliver relevant training for fishers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
