Caroline Wawzonek
Deputy Premier
Statements in Debates
Sorry, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I've just lost the page that I'm looking for. So why don't I turn it to Ms. Bolstad. I think she has it in front of her.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it's partial offset $1.35 million in federal support have come in, so the net to the GNWT is $2.15 million. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the main estimates are due out -- well, we've already gone through one round of them and the next ones aren't due out until, of course, the February sitting. It's not usually my practice or any other finance Minister's practice to discuss them in great detail before that happens. So our own processes this year are still underway in terms of building our budget, and so that directive remains in place. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we were just outside of the warranty period, unfortunately. With respect to whether or not there might be an insurance claim, that, Mr. Chair, I think does remain something of an open question. You know, again, the decision to ultimately replace them was based on the fact of the concern for a risk, and so whether or not the insurance company will accept that as being an insurable risk or not, again I at this point can't say. That'll be up to the insurance company. But I don't think a final decision has been made on whether we will pursue that or not. Again...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this one, again, and similarly the project is underway but there is a need to revise the timing of the delivery of the project. I do expect this one, similarly, will be completed in the fiscal year of 2027-2028. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I expect that the total cost of this will come in in and around $7 million. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, Mr. Chair, I would say a lot more is done than that. I didn't have the exact date of the completion. It was my own error. So where we're at right now, the initial problem was identified back in August, so about a year and some ago. A lot of testing was done immediately in lab-based tests to ensure whether the problem was engineering, construction, design, or otherwise. They were able to identify that it was the metal itself, which is the point at which they went out to the original constructor of the bridge to have those pieces rebuilt or recast. So those 24 anchors...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I understand that the design for the facility is already complete and that it's, in fact, the procurement process is already as well complete and has been awarded. I would want to double check that with the Minister of health but that is my understanding, is that the process is actually quite a ways along and so they're not going to go back to redo the design and the construction bid and the procurement process. I know there were some concerns raised this summer when there was a lot of effort being made in order to ensure that we were supporting the community...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to speak to this question. I think there has been a lot of concern and rumor and frustration on this but in fact, as I said, it's -- we're really only just barely over a year since the issue was identified, and what they've done is gone back to the original constructor of the bridge. Rather than try to find someone new to fit themselves in, they've gone back to them to recast these pieces again. They had to, in fact -- well, to recast the entire 24 bars. So that's now been done. It's been happening by this other company. At the same time...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the estimate we do have and what we are appropriating is $6.5 million. So that is the estimate right now, and hopefully, you know -- yes, you know, total costs, as I understand it, for all things engineering, fabrication, construction, the work that was done to prepare the testing, etcetera, is at $6.8 million, so this $7 million was me rounding up $6.8 million, Mr. Chair, and I should be more specific. $6.8 million in total. This is $6.5 million. This is the amount we don't have. Thank you.