Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to rise today and speak about transparency in infrastructure budgeting.
Last fall in this House, we passed a confidential amount for the Whati Power Project. We're not allowed to say how much we passed. We also know the total amount of that project but it's confidential information. And when you ask the government why we can't talk about how much a specific project says, they say oh, it'll affect tendering. Yet, Mr. Speaker, I just don't believe that is remotely true.
A comparable project, the Fort Providence Transmission Line, we know costs $60 million. In fact, we knew that one year before any money ever came to this Assembly because the federal government announced it. And every time the federal government gives us money, they announce the total cost they are providing to the GNWT and the total project cost, and it takes about a year, actually, before that money ever even gets approved by the Assembly. So it's announced as if it's a done fact, and we're just going to rubber stamp whatever amount is.
Additionally, Mr. Speaker, at a municipal level, it would be impossible to ever approve a project without talking about the total project cost. The vast majority of infrastructure is actually municipal, and often whenever a council is approving a project, not only is the total project cost there, but actually the design and a cost estimate.
Mr. Speaker, I have never seen a public GNWT cost estimate. Every once in a while, we're lucky if we get a business case. I know we are all eagerly awaiting the Taltson business case, but I strongly doubt we will ever see a Fort Providence Transmission Line business case or a Whati business case.
And Mr. Speaker, yesterday in this House, the government let $125 million in infrastructure spending lapse. And they didn't think it was important to tell the public which projects they are letting lapse. Perhaps there is a very important infrastructure project in your community that you were previously told was going ahead has now disappeared off the books, and there is no public record of what those projects are, Mr. Speaker.
$125 million, of money that this House previously approved, has now just been removed without telling the public what actually happened.
Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure about how we can get some more transparency in our budgeting.
This is a uniquely GNWT project. You can go to almost any other jurisdiction in Canada and look at their longterm capital projects. You can look at their longterm needs assessment. You can see the cost estimates for individual projects. You can see what years that money will be dispersed, and then you can track through time whether it's on time and on budget. We have asked repeatedly for staff to try and find out if projects are on time and on budget, and with publiclyavailable information, Mr. Speaker, it is an impossible task. And given we are letting about half of our capital budget get carried over or lapsed, it's very clear that consistently the GNWT's projects are not on time and not on budget.
I'll have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Thebacha.
