David Ramsay

Thank you. Obviously, time is of the essence. It looks like there might be a federal election sometime in May. I’d like to ask the Minister what plans are in the works to ramp up the efforts to ensure that that federal funding does become available so that we can get the infrastructure replaced in that trailer park this coming summer. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to speak about the situation taking place at Northland Trailer Park located here in the city of Yellowknife. Northland Trailer Park is home to 1,100 people, including close to 600 children. The issue of the aging water and sewer infrastructure is again front and centre as the trailer park continues to battle frozen lines and freeze-ups.

For the last three weeks some residents have gone with intermittent water service; water a couple of hours a day with no set schedule. The water has been out for some for a full week. This has taken a toll on its residents...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I thank the Minister for that. In the interview the project manager did with the CBC he said the bridge’s general contractor, it will be up to them to figure out how to make up the lost time and pay for any added costs. I’d like to ask the Minister, is that exactly how this is going to work? Thank you.

I thank the Minister for that. Part of the initial budget on the $92 million contract between the Deh Cho Bridge and Ruskin would not have included the need to take out that temporary bridge and put it back in again a few weeks after breakup to allow construction on the south side. I’d like to ask the Minister how much is taking the temporary bridge out and putting it back in going to cost and who’s going to pay for that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to speak again today about the Deh Cho Bridge Project.

Earlier this week the Minister of Transportation provided this House with a statement on the Deh Cho Bridge Project. In that Minister’s statement he mentioned a revised construction schedule that the department was evaluating and that he would update the House when that review was complete. I’m having trouble understanding how I’m supposed to believe this.

When the Levelton Report was completed, the department kept that report to themselves for months. They did not share it with Members before it was actually...

I appreciate the work the contractor is doing there. My apologies for trying to get some answers on the $200 million that the taxpayers of the Northwest Territories have hanging out there on this project. So, again, I’m going to ask questions and continue to ask questions about this project in an effort to protect the taxpayers here in the Northwest Territories and find out what our real risks are with this project.

I’d like to ask the Minister again, yesterday I asked him a pretty straightforward question: who would be responsible for cost overruns and construction delays on this project...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got some more questions today for the Minister of Transportation, getting back to my Member’s statement where I talked about delays in construction. Going back to some of the things the Minister has said in the past, he had mentioned to the House and to Members that construction would take place from both sides of the river on the project to ensure the completion date of November 2011. It would appear that that’s not happening, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister why construction hasn’t taken place on both sides of that river so that it could meet in the...

Thank you and I thank the Minister for that. It would be easy to identify risks. Risks are easily identifiable and in the Auditor General’s report she calls the department’s risk matrix weak. It’s how you manage those risks, Mr. Speaker, and that’s what I want to ask the Minister about. The Department of Transportation seems to figure that by including a delivery date in the contract, that that transfers that risk to the general contractor. The Auditor General found no information on this transfer in the risk matrix, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister how he accounts for that omission...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that. It wasn’t really what I was looking for, though. It is paragraph 27 of the Auditor General’s report which states quite clearly that the risk to the project was significantly increased when the Government of the Northwest Territories waived the approval of the design in order to allow construction to start. Was the recommendation from the Department of Transportation not to proceed with construction? Who made the decision to waive the requirement to have that design completed? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, that would be true for the Department of Transportation’s role in the Deh Cho Bridge Project, but I am talking about the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation and their financial records. Has an external audit of the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation’s financial records been audited? If so, can we see it? Thank you.