Tom Beaulieu

Thank you. Yes, our intention is to lobby the federal government with the whole Corridors for Canada III. We have not completely determined how we are going to do that, but we are developing a plan to approach the government. Whether we do it and communicate with them in writing or if we communicate with them face-to-face is something that we have yet to determine. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our Corridors III proposal has an element there that is targeting the Mackenzie Valley Highway and we are looking at a budget that has been released by the government on things of national significance. They have $4 billion in there and we are trying to get a piece of that to do some of the work for the future Mackenzie Valley Highway. Thank you.

That’s not the report that I am receiving. The report that I’m receiving is the construction from the Inuvik side and the construction from the Tuk side is going well, that all of the material we’re putting on the road is not disappearing into the tundra. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I do believe that we have a fairly decent cost estimate on the cost of the Inuvik-Tuk highway. Although the budget is just under $300 million, we’re expecting the actual construction cost to be well under that. There will be other additional costs such as design, engineering and so on; however, the actual construction costs of the highway would be under that. The department is confident that we will come within the budget that we set. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Deh Cho Bridge meets and exceeds all of Canada’s national bridge codes when it was constructed and completed. The department doesn’t see an issue with the bridge. If there certainly are issues that we are unaware of, then I would welcome getting that information. If we were to receive information indicating that there are certain problems, if we were to receive information that there may have been some wrongdoings during the construction or dealings with the construction of the bridge, we will certainly look at that. If that means bringing in an auditor to look at that, we...

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 5, An Act to Amend the Motor Vehicles Act, be read for the second time.

This bill amends the Motor Vehicles Act to:

remove references to public service vehicles;

add references to the registration permits, in-transit permits and short-term permits;

define “driving record,” and clarify who may obtain access to it and under what circumstances;

allow a person to apply for an early renewal of a driver’s licence up to one year before the date of expiry;

allow the registrar to extend a driver’s licence or an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time the department is moving forward with a retrospective evaluation of the bridge and carrying out the work. We’re also doing an analysis of what we have found and monitoring as we do some additional work to repair anything that could be an issue on the bridge. At this time the department feels that carrying out this type of work, doing the monitoring, retrospective evaluation of the work and so on, would be more valuable than doing another audit. Thank you.

Thank you. There is $7 million left to do any of the deficiencies. There’s a list of deficiencies beyond the piers, the scour rock around the piers. I can present that. I could table it. Thank you.

Thank you. The department has been discussing with industry, increased usage of the road due to economic activity. So, yes, the department is aware of that and has been discussing the possible impacts to the road with industry.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, effective and efficient government is one of this Assembly’s goals. One of the ways that the Department of Public Works and Services will be helping to support this goal is by hosting the 14th Project Management Conference from December 3rd to 5th. This conference draws together project management experts to share their experiences and discuss best practices and innovative approaches to managing infrastructure projects more efficiently and effectively. Every two years representatives of the North’s project management community gather for this conference...