David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will ask questions to the Minister of Transportation regarding the Deh Cho Bridge on decisions made by this current government under their watch today.

Mr. Speaker, in reading the Auditor General’s report, it would appear that an external audit of the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation’s financial statements had not been done while the Auditor General was looking at this project. That means that trying to put a figure on the cost to date on that project just leaves a lot to be questioned. Does the Minister have a cost to date on the Deh Cho Bridge Project? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I certainly respect my colleague’s view of this. I also respect the fact that the committee’s wish was to get rid of the traditional and locally accepted practices, clauses that were in the original amendments, ones that the committee had actually asked for and the department brought forward amendments that contain that wording, local and traditionally accepted practices. The committee asked for that and we got it in spades.

When we went out to public hearings, we heard, again, overwhelmingly that we shouldn’t be allowing for any exceptions to the abuse, neglect or...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Briefly, I’ve got this motion here today. Throughout our public hearing process and through comments through e-mails and phone calls that I’ve received on the proposed amendments to Bill 16, overwhelmingly people are saying across the Northwest Territories that it’s time the government move forward with comprehensive animal protection legislation.

My personal belief is it’s long overdue. The amendments to the Dog Act are long overdue. It’s a step in the right direction, but what we’ve heard is the society is not accepting of cruelty to animals in any way, shape or form...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to provide a few comments if I could. I know, along with my colleague Mr. Bromley, we have read the report into the House the other day, but I just want to again thank the committee for the work it did on Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Dog Act, as well as I want to commend the Minister of MACA, R.C. McLeod, for his work on the development of the amendments to Bill 16 and appreciate his work on that as well as the staff at MACA that brought this to us. We appreciate that.

Of course, the important thing is what the public had to say. I can’t believe the amount...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If I could sum it up concisely, I just want to get a better idea on whose responsibility it is should the project go past November of 2011 and cost more. Is it the general contractor or is it the Government of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

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.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to speak today about the Auditor General’s report on the Deh Cho Bridge Project. I want to start by saying that I appreciate the time and effort that Ms. Sheila Fraser and her staff have provided on this audit.

The Auditor General’s report confirms clearly and concisely that the concerns I have repeatedly expressed the past seven years on the decision to proceed with the project and its subsequent management are legitimate and real. What becomes abundantly clear is this project, as it was sold to Members and the public as a P3 project, was not a P3 project and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Going back to my earlier comments where I had stated that the committee had asked the Minister for...