Mr. Speaker, the issue that I brought up in my Member's statement is not a new issue. It was actually addressed to the Minister of Finance and her team while she was up in Inuvik. So my questions for the Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Power Corp who was in charge of this contract, for the wind project in Inuvik, that the contractors who built the road for the wind turbine project have outstanding amounts that need to be paid. Can the Minister advise us and the businesses in my riding and region when they can expect to be paid for the work that they completed? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, NT Energy has bonding in place for the project to protect the financial loss and protect subcontractors if they're not paid accordingly to the contract terms for their labour and materials they provide. NT Energy provided subcontractors with information on how to access the labour and materials bond, but some subcontractors have been unable to access it due to the terms of their contract with the primary contractor. NT Energy cannot compensate the subcontractors for unpaid work as it's not a party to this contract. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, Mr. Speaker, this is a project that has been praised and praised by this Cabinet in this House. I've raised issue after issue after issue that has been ongoing that's been brought to my attention that I've raised with the Minister multiple times, and now the contractors in my region in my community and in my region are wanting to be paid. This is a federallyfunded project so when is this Minister going to pay going to have these contractors or figure out when they're going to get paid? They're out, some of them, almost a million dollars, Mr. Speaker, and then the cost of living and those small businesses that run in my community, they are putting food on the people's table and roofs over their head and, you know, they can't be out a million, you know. So I'd like to know, and they would like to know, when they're going to paid and how are they going to be paid. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to note that this matter is before the courts, and I don't have a lot of detailed information that I could share on the floor of the House. I do want to note, though, that I have shared detailed information with the Member to be able to go through the whole process on what's happened on this project. I also want to note that direct payments to that are made by NT Energy to the subcontractors would not offset outstanding contract amounts between the primary contractor for access to the road and its subcontractors. Mr. Speaker, this could result in NT Energy paying for the same goods and services twice and at the detriment of NWT taxpayers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my colleague has just said we as a territory are planning on wanting to build probably more than a $2 billion project. I would feel sorry for those contractors now because are they going to get paid for any of the work that they do? So I want to know how this Minister's going to fix this. And sending my small businesses to go and find a lawyer to fight things in court is not an answer. They need to be paid, and I want this Minister to make sure and commit in the House that she will rectify this before our term is up. We don't have much longer, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to see these local contractors paid as soon as possible. We are working with the contractors to be able to direct them to be able to get their payments. You know, this is in my riding as well, and I'm doing my best to be able to ensure that, you know, we start this process. Right now it's just in the it's before the legal system so my powers are very limited. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like this Minister or her staff, or whoever's listening behind that's going to be there, you know, if she's the Minister of something else next time, or you know, she's on this side or whatever the future holds for us, that this project is looked into so that way when we move on to the next project that we're doing on this energy strategy, that we don't make these same mistakes so our local contractors, if they're going to do work, they're going to get paid. You know, they can't be sitting out. So I would like this Minister to commit that she will have her staff make sure that there is a detail of what not to do next time. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, I can commit to continuing to keep the Member in the loop. I want to do note that, you know, as a result of this project we've had challenges. You know, I've been on the floor talking about some of the challenges. We have had lessons learned. So in the future should we have major infrastructure projects, we can look at some of our lessons learned. That's the whole idea of having this lessons learned document. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
