Jane Groenewegen

I would like to ask the Premier if he would share that valuation that the FMB comes up with, with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation as a next step, to see if they would like to respond to that dollar value.

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to ask questions on SFA today, but I guess I’ll just have to ask questions on the Deh Cho Bridge instead.

Mr. Speaker, lots of e-mails have been coming into my e-mail box, and I want to sincerely thank people for taking the time to share their opinions and their questions on this very significant piece of capital infrastructure. I encourage that. Whether it is pro or against, I am very interested in hearing people’s input. I also want to thank people who phoned in this morning and took the trouble to become involved through a phone-in radio show on CBC.

Mr. Speaker...

The committee would like to start off today by considering Bill 2, Supplementary Appropriation Act, and will proceed as far as we can with that today.

I am obviously worried about the eligible cost overruns because those are the ones that could very much affect the total price of this project.

To the total price…. We understand we have a business plan in place through a toll charge to recover much of the capital cost of this project. But to the integrity of that business plan and the business case and the projected volumes of traffic that are contained in the business plan, I’d like to know how our government has protected our interests by contemplating the effect of a private operator setting up a ferry on the Mackenzie River to haul traffic...

My questions today are for the Premier.

We elect people to our cabinet to serve and protect the public interest. The Premier, as the former and current Finance Minister, must be fully aware of the demands on our limited resources. Today, as I speak, our high school in Hay River is closed because we have not had the capital required to do a mid-life retrofit on it, as one example. And there are so many more.

Our financial exposure on the Deh Cho Bridge could impact the financial capacity of our government for many years to come and our available capital dollars. Although it would cost us money to...

I move that we report progress.

Motion carried.

It seems, in other words, there has been no contemplation of such a thing happening. There’s probably nothing stopping it from happening. The government’s been able to do it for years and years. I don’t see what would stop a private operator from doing that.

Mr. Speaker, we were promised many, many times during briefings that we would get a chance to have a look at the concession agreement that was signed in the last government. This concession agreement has been now made available.

But I would like the Premier today to remind me why that was not available previously, and why now it’s only...

I appreciate that response from the Premier because in order for us to really have an effective discussion and dialogue with the people of the North about this, that is a very key piece of information that we need.

The Premier outlined some of the precautions and undertakings the government has put in place with respect to this contract. But we've been told — and I need to understand this — that there is a fixed price on the construction of the bridge. I'd like to know what measures have been put in place in the agreement to protect this government in terms of cost overruns.

Mr. Speaker, today I want to tell you how completely disappointed — and disappointed is not a strong enough word — I am with the leadership of our past and present government that would have allowed a process such as that associated with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation to be entered into. As the details, which were so often withheld, now slowly come to light, the financial harm that our government has been exposed to is unbelievable.

The Deh Cho Bridge will be the most costly piece of capital infrastructure ever embarked upon by our government. And lest you doubt that it is our government — and...

Mr. Speaker, I don’t know if I can switch to a different minister on the same topic or not. I was going to ask the Minister of Public Works some questions on the same topic, but I’ll have to get back on the list again. Thank you.