Mr. Chairman, the issue of the community owning the asset is not the issue. It is simply how we define projects through a funding process. Regardless of whether the community of Nahanni Butte gets it through the O&M or just a cheque directly from the Finance Minister, I don’t really care, to be honest.
The fact is that we’re funding this project up front before we’re even given a capital project, and on top of that, we’re building a capital project with O&M money. I don’t like the principle of the process that we’re going through. And I wish to put it on the record that I don’t think it’s appropriate that we fund projects before we get them in this way where we just give them all the money and say, “go ahead.”
This is a project for this community. And it wouldn’t change the process if we paid in milestones like we did with any other project. We make the money accessible so it could be drawn down. Again, it wouldn’t change the support of the project, in my view, and it would ensure that we deliver the project, in the fact that we get the asset when they get all their money at the same time. Otherwise, it looks like we’re paying people up front and saying, “good luck — give us a gym.” It makes it difficult for us to bear down pressure if something goes funny.
It’s more of a comment as opposed to a question for the Finance minster, but I’m more than willing to hear his response, assuming he wishes to respond. Like I say, it has nothing to do with being critical as to the project, just the process.