Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the company the honourable Member is referring to is ABT Engineering. It is a new engineering consulting company. There are about 10 engineering consulting companies in and around Yellowknife that the department uses. This particular concern is with regard to a proposal that was put out by the Department of Transportation for quality assurance on Highway #3, which is kilometre 165 to 175. That is the section between the communities of Fort Providence and Rae-Edzo.
According to the department, the government has a policy which they use for utilizing architectural and engineering consultants. It is called the selection of architectural and engineering services policy, which is a directive of the BIP. This is what the departnment follows. Of the 10 firms, according to this policy, three firms are asked at a time. In a previous contract, ABT Engineering was included as one of the three for an adjacent piece of work. Unfortuantely, BT was not successful. Other people had better proposals, so they weren't selected. This time around, another three firms were invited to put a bid in. This is how the department does its work in acquiring services of engineering consultants. It isn't the intention of the department to be reluctant in accepting an engineering firm. It is just the way the department has been doing business. Thank you.