Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think all the Members in the House recognize the cost of building bridges are very extreme and it certainly would be a fiscal challenge for our government to actually finance and provide the

resources to build one bridge in the typical fashion required for building a bridge.

We have considered, as part of what would be a Mackenzie Valley Highway, that the bridges along that route would be covered and part of the road, if there was ever federal resources to build that road. We do have, as the Member has indicated, expertise on a lot of the aspects of building bridges. We just don’t have the dollars to do so.

There has been a lot of work that has been done, as the Member has referenced, in the ‘60s and ‘70s on all the major crossings. We have that information. There has also been other work on ice floes and ice patterns and breakup that has been studied and that information is available.

The Mackenzie Valley winter road has seen a lot of investment over the last while. That was as a result over federal programs that were available that targeted resource development areas and it allowed us to build quite a few bridges; 34 I think the last count was. As the Member has again indicated, some bridges along our highway transportation systems such as the Liard, the Ndulee, the Peel and the Tsiigehtchic crossing that don’t have a mechanism to finance, we, of course, would be happy if there was some way to do it, but at this point fiscally it will be a challenge. We don’t have the resources in our own coffers. Even if we do look at the P3 program, the P3 program would require some significant capital. It would only pay for the direct costs. So anything leading up to the actual construction would have to be covered by the proponent or a partner. We haven’t been able to identify that partner or the resources as of yet to take advantage of that program for any of the bridges that have been identified. Thank you.