Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member raised a very important concern that we are currently reviewing as part of our committee that looks at the infrastructure process. Allowing projects to move along quickly is something that we certainly need to incorporate in our planning. Moving the capital approval process into the fall session is part of that.

We have had some discussion for quite a few years with the community, with the other departments involved, trying to bring this to a conclusion. This is not the first estimate that was provided to us. We had the community involved that brought forward...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I indicated earlier in my response to investment in the Sahtu, we’ve been trying to really offset some of the pressures that are being brought into that area by resource development, by the oil and gas industry, and trying to make the winter road more accommodating to the local traffic. We have targeted 42 bridges that are needed in the Sahtu region. We think we are in a position to do at least 41 of them.

We did have the Great Bear River Bridge as part of the projects that were listed under the strategic investment dollars. The budget line for that project was at...

Mr. Chair, the dollar amount on the money that has been earmarked for research and development is actually $1.8 million over the life of the Building Canada Fund. We have a number of areas that we are interested in. We have criteria that we have to meet, and some of the criteria require us to look at climate change issues and environmental issues. It also gives us the ability to do the research. We have looked at and are considering some dollars to be awarded to the Aklavik Steering Committee that is doing some work pending that we move forward to some satisfactory conclusion and start to nail...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to say that there has been some significant focus in the area of the Sahtu, the Member’s riding, for some time now and for all the reasons that he’s listed, including the short time frame where the communities can access the south for shopping or visiting or things of a personal nature. There’s also the consideration among the communities in the Sahtu to be able to have the communities connected during the winter months so they can travel back and forth.

We have been focusing some considerable investment through the strategic infrastructure initiatives. We’ve...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have had discussions with the proponent who’s been providing us with the estimates on this project. We’ve also conferred with him about the release of the potential subcontractors that he is working with, and he has no problem with us making that information public. We have to remember that there was some reluctance to bring these forward as there is no contract yet, and there is no agreement with any of the subs. But we’d be glad to table the information that is required.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’ll be very brief. I’ve said most of what I had wanted to state on this project. Of course, practising good government, we’ll live with the will of this House.

We do have concerns, though. We probably would not be in this situation if the facility that we call the Perry Building had not developed some serious concerns, some structural defects that would force us to abandon that facility. It’s not really an issue of pathetic planning. It’s just an issue where we really didn’t have and we still don’t have another place to go. There is one other small space that the Member...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We don’t see any potential for market disruption in this case. There is very little vacant space. It’s not the same as the comparison that was made with Yellowknife, where there is vacant space, and in order to undertake a project of this nature, we would be disrupting the market by not providing opportunity for the proponents that had space. In this case we have a number of buildings we’re housing our employees in, some with structural problems; for example, the Perry Building that was referenced. There is limited occupancy there. The landlord has discontinued...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The rationale for not moving forward on this project is because it wasn’t ready to start construction as we had initially planned, because there was a functional review of the facility that would include some enhancement and some renovations and things of that nature.

We are still quite keen to move ahead with this project. We still think that it is of high priority. The Department of Education is moving forward with their functional review. We expect to do the design. We will put emphasis on getting the design done, and I can certainly commit that I will take it to FMB...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is important, I think, to point out that initially Diamond Jenness was targeted for a midlife retrofit. Our department, the Department of Public Works and Services, did a midlife review and a technical evaluation on the project. We provided a report that indicated it would cost around $21 million to retrofit the building completely. We were prepared to move ahead. However, the midlife retrofit would not accommodate any new program areas or new changes in design. It would be renovated to the specs and design that it is currently in, and we would not allow for any...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have over the last number of years invested very significantly in the area of Sahtu. It has probably received the most investment in terms of bridge work. We put in many bridges that would see the road season extended so that people could take advantage of it, and the oil and gas industry can also utilize this piece of winter road. We also had partnerships with many of the companies that the Member has mentioned to enhance the road, to keep it safe, to keep it stable and also to extend the season.

The Bear River Bridge is a project that has had money identified...