Tom Beaulieu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have, as the Member indicated, a contract with the Joint Venture group up in the Beaufort-Delta. No one has ever run a project of this type before with this type of material on this type of terrain, so this is absolutely a new thing for this North and for anywhere in the world actually. We brought in the experts that we think can work with that type of material. As the material is put on the road and embankments are built, it comes down. We recognize that we’re working with a budget that is limited and we have a small contingency. It’s that small contingency that we...

Yes, the indication I have from the department is it would be completed in 2014. I would be pleased to meet with the community to advise them of that as well.

If the material to construct the airport is good material then the issue of them being off an all-season road is not an issue. However, if the material was not proper material then that becomes an issue, and that’s all I was trying to indicate.

I will go back to the department and look at the management team. We recognize that the Department of Transportation continues to work with the Sambaa K’e Development Corporation and also the contractor. Our organization, the contractor and the local development are working together to try to get this job done as quickly as possible, and the intention is...

We have an oversight committee with Cabinet to ensure that our level, that we are continuing to communicate with each other, staying on top of the project. The project is cash-flowed, so the work that is scheduled is cash-flowed and we anticipate that we will be following the cash flow and the construction simultaneously, and at the end of the day, I am anticipating that the project will finish. If the project, in any way, shape or form, is starting to exceed the cash flow, we are going to know immediately. We also committed to continue to provide updates to the Standing Committee on Economic...

We do recognize that a project of this magnitude does have some risks associated with it. The only guarantee that we do have is that we’ve negotiated with the Joint Venture group, we’ve negotiated with a group of contractors, big contractors actually, that we felt were in the best position to build this highway with the amount of money that we were putting into the highway. That is the thing that we have to back us up. We can’t provide a solid guarantee that this is going to come right in on budget, but at this point this is how all contracts start. We come up with a price, we negotiate a...

I will commit to reviewing the entire project, review that entire project with our senior management team from Yellowknife, and we will report back to the Member in detail as to where the delays occurred in the construction of the Trout Lake Airport.

Thank you. The piers have been mapped with scour rock over the past summer. There has been a stockpile of rock, 6,000 cubic metres of rock has been stockpiled. A public tender for shaping and placing the rock is out and it closes today. Thank you.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In the plan, DOT has $3 million scheduled for 2014-15. That would be used for resurfacing and chipsealing sections of that highway. Thank you.

Thank you. Again, we haven’t made a final determination of what that lobbying would look like. We can keep the Members advised as we move through the plan to determine how we hope to launch our lobbying efforts with the federal government. Thank you.

At this time we are discussing the feasibility of perhaps traveling to Ottawa to discuss this directly with the Minister, or waiting for the federal government to do the allocations based on whichever way they intend to allocate the money that’s put into all of this, including money for the Building Canada Plan or any money as far as municipal infrastructure. Thank you.