Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Next on my list is Bob Bromley.

Question is being called.

---Carried

We’ll extend hours until we conclude. We’ll just be carrying beyond our normal hours of adjournment. Next on my list, Mr. Jacobson, were you done?

I’d like to thank the deputy minister for that. I sure hope he’s right.

The last little bit that I’d like to talk about and get some comfort around is the cost control on this project. When we look at what’s coming in and what needs to go out it’s a pretty fine line of us being able to bring in enough money to be able to cover what our annual cost is without having to find money elsewhere. What assurance do you have that we can control the costs on this project so that they don’t inflate out of control? Some Members have suggested numbers but I’m not sure where those numbers come from so I’m...

Thank you, Ms. Melhorn. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The next on my list is Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you for that. I’m looking more for the primary project managers on this project. Have they got bridge experience? Have they got experience building bridges of this capacity and this size? Can we have some confidence that the team we put in place to replace the team that wasn’t able to build us a bridge can build us a bridge within the timeline provided? You’ve told us over and over again, and I hope you’re right, that 2011 will be the time that you build the bridge by. Does this project management team have the knowledge, skills and ability to make that happen? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Premier Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have to say that I’m a little frustrated actually being here today. I’m a little frustrated that the first time that the Members of the 16th Legislative Assembly get to vote on anything on the bridge, the vote is such that we really don’t have a choice. We pretty much have to vote yes to this thing. If we don’t vote yes to this thing it’s still going to cost us the same or more money. The delays will actually, in my opinion, result in far greater expenditures than the incredibly high expenditures that we’re already dealing with today. It’s frustrating and it makes me...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a number of questions as outlined in my general comments, but to begin with, thanks to Ms. Bisaro for asking a bunch of the questions I wanted to ask and Mr. Beaulieu as well. I was going to start with the question Mr. Beaulieu just asked, which is why five years. Is there any chance we can look at getting a six or a seven? Even an extra year or two would help us an awful lot. I’m looking at the forecasts of what our debt is going to be, and in 2015-2016 we are still quite in debt and if we had a couple of extra years it might give us a little more comfort moving...

Thank you, Premier Roland. Minister Michael McLeod.