Thank you, Mr. Chair. When we first started to look at the concept of the combined schools project in Inuvik back in late 2005, we came up with an estimate based upon what the cost of construction was at that time. As we worked our way through the process, not only was the construction market really starting to escalate at that time, but the reliability of any estimates —
whether it would be by the GNWT or if we talked to people in the construction association trying to estimate something three or four years out — for construction was and is very difficult in this market.
If Members also recall, we are changing our new capital planning process now for new projects. They have to go to the class C estimate stage before we will consider them into the capital plan so that we have an understanding about what the scope of work is and what it is going to cost, what the areas are of the different rooms, to get a really good idea about what it is we are building and how much it’s going to cost.
That’s really where we are now with the Inuvik schools when we came up with the price that we have today. When you saw the plan last year with the budget that you mentioned, it was based more or less on last year, what work we had done at that time. Over the last year we have advanced the project to where it is at. Then when we got the first schematic design, the construction estimate was well in excess of a hundred million dollars. We rejected that design and directed the architect to go back and take a much more simple approach. We were also able to bring in a prospective contractor to get the contractor’s advice about how to make it simpler to build, make it cheaper to build. The fact of the matter is that the school project itself is roughly 11,900
metres, and the areas of the
schools that you had mentioned are anywhere from 2,700 square metres to 3,200 square metres. So the ratio proportion between those schools that are coming in at $20
million to $30
million for
3,200 square metres, versus 11,900…. The pricing is right in the ballpark of what we paid for those schools.
It is just that the size of the school is for 1,050 students, where the other schools are probably in the neighbourhood of around 120 to 130 students, or 200 students maybe. So it is a larger building; there is no question about that. But I think we have done our level best to try and get this down to a simple building. There are no fancy curves or multislope roofs that you may have seen in other facilities. It is a fairly simple, straightforward building compared to what we originally had to deal with. I could go on for longer, I suppose, but I think that is the summary of where we were and where we are now and how we got the cost where we are at today.