Thank you, Minister Michael McLeod. We are on page 9-10, Transportation, activity summary, highways, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $63.919 million.

We will move along to page 9-14, which is Transportation. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just had a few questions as it pertains to the Deh Cho Bridge toll system. I know the bridge is being delayed for at least a year. The redesign isn’t concluded so the logical question is, why does the government find it necessary to put $600,000 in the capital plan? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Minister McLeod.

Mr. Chairman, under our responsibilities and under the conditions of the concession agreement, it falls under our responsibility to develop and to design and supply, install, upgrade and manage the whole toll system. There are two components to the toll system. In the capital budget, we have already received approval for the $400,000 for last year. This year, we are looking for an additional $600,000 in this budget. There are two areas that will be considered or will be invested in. This is, first of all, to do with vehicle counts and classification. For the most part, that has already been started and being worked on, also, the toll collection and administrative portions for the next 2010-11. The plan is to have the tolls collected through a permanent call centre and an account-based system for larger commercial vehicles. We also need to build and develop the pullouts and install a direct line to the call centre.

The Member has indicated that the bridge has been delayed. Well, we haven’t formally delayed the bridge. We have given all the indicators that there will be a delay. The plan was to have the bridge in place and completed with traffic crossing by November of 2010. We know that is going to be very difficult to achieve. We expect that the delay will be anywhere from six months to a year. We need to have all systems in place ready to go, depending on what the delay is. If we defer this portion of our responsibility for a year and the bridge is ready and traffic volumes are crossing, we will be losing out. We have to be ready to start counting traffic. We are already looking at classifying and trying to determine what the volumes that are going through this year, but to delay the whole system for a year would be very difficult.

In response to the Member’s question, the actual use of the capital funding would be to install a traffic counting and classification system on the bridge, to install video monitoring equipment of traffic on the bridge, to install communication equipment for real-time access to traffic counting and video equipment on the bridge, to install a turnout, a self-serve kiosk on the south approach to the bridge to allow for the toll payment, to install a boundary reading equipment on the bridge, to develop software for tracking the traffic counts and toll collection.

Mr. Chairman, there are a number of things that need to be done. I guess if we deferred it for a year in our capital process, we would probably have to come back in the form of a special warrant or something to allow us to construct this portion of toll collection that would allow us to start whenever the bridge is ready. Thank you.

I thank the Minister for that. Just a couple of things. I am just wondering when the $400,000 was approved initially for the toll system, because I maybe was out of the House that day or I was somewhere else, but I don’t remember us approving $400,000 for the toll booth on the Deh Cho Bridge. Maybe just a comment on that. Maybe the Minister could just refresh my memory as to why this Deh Cho Bridge toll system wasn’t included in the initial concession agreement and whether or not we can renegotiate that concession agreement to include this price that is going to be borne on the taxpayer here in the Northwest Territories. There is the toll collection, the toll booth. Why can’t it be included in the concession agreement? Why can’t we open up that concession agreement to include it like it should have been in the first place? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

First question, I guess the $400,000 that was approved was approved last year in the budget. The agreement to supply this was in the concession agreement. I think it would

be very difficult to go back and open it up at this point.

Maybe just a comment from the Minister on why this wasn’t included in the original concession agreement. I think the residents in the Northwest Territories are going to be asking questions about why this wasn’t included in the concession agreement and why it appears in the capital plan and why we are going to be spending $1 million on the toll bridge operating system when, for all intents and purposes, it should have been included in the concession agreement. I am not sure who didn’t negotiate that in, but that is a big oversight, in my mind. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, it was always understood and it was in the agreement that we would be providing this portion of the toll collection. As to why it wasn’t, I wasn’t actually at the negotiating table, so I couldn’t tell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Neudorf.

Thank you, Mr. Neudorf. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess I just don’t agree with the rationale for not including it in the concession agreement. I guess I’ve gone on record as saying that before and I’ll say it again today. It’s happened in the past, so we need to move on anyway.

I want to ask, on an annual basis, what is it going to cost the government to operate the toll system. The Minister talks about a call centre. What’s it going to cost us on an annual basis to operate this toll system? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Neudorf. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the issue here in terms of the Deh Cho Bridge toll system, can this toll system be designed by a private company other than the GNWT? Is that the way this is being looked at? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Neudorf.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, from what I’m hearing, the toll system design will be done outside of the GNWT where a private company would design the system and work in conjunction with the Department of Transportation to set up this toll for the Deh Cho Bridge? This is what they’re budgeting for in terms of this work?

Thank you, Mr. Neudorf. We’re on page 9-14, Transportation, activity summary, road licensing and safety, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $1.210 million.

That concludes that page. Let’s move back to page 9-2, Department of Transportation, department summary, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $82.939 million.