Highways, not previously authorized, $63.973 million. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In regard to various bridge program, territorial, it’s $1.365 million. Could you give me a breakdown of

exactly where these bridges are going to go and where they are going to be expended?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Kalgutkar.

I’m just wondering where Shale Creek is.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you. I’ll have to refer that question to Minister Michael McLeod, who has intimate detail of the location of every one of these bridges.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. To Minister McLeod for the intimate details.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Shale Creek is located in Nahendeh outside of Fort Simpson. The contract is being done by a combination of companies under Fort Simpson Dene Council. The contract company is called Ti K’endeh and I believe it’s a Wrigley and Fort Simpson partnership arrangement.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Krutko.

As we heard earlier today from the Member for Nahendeh with regard to the closure of Highway No. 7, is this part of anything close to where the washout took place or where the road is closed because of the lack of bridges or bridgework in Highway No. 7?

This is a project that was initiated to move away from a culvert type of arrangement to a box bridge type facility. This would provide us with longer term reliability and better drainage as a result.

I notice at the bottom of the page you do have $3.8 million for bridges, culverts, structural rehabilitation. I’m just wondering, in light of the situation on Highway No. 7, is there a possibility that any of these dollars can be re-profiled to deal with that crisis we find on Highway No. 7 today?

Again, I have to note that Highway No. 1, there were a bunch of upgrades and that taking place. That’s part of the carry-overs. I’m just wondering if there are any penalties associated with the contractors to conclude the contracts within a particular contract season, because it seems like a lot of these carry-overs are very large sums by way of the numbers of them. What contractual obligations do contractors have to conclude contracts within specific time frames in those contracts and are we sticking to them?

Yes, we do have contracts that state time frames and penalties. However, we do allow for consideration if there are unforeseen circumstances. A lot these companies are local companies. A lot of them are Aboriginal companies. A lot of them are development corporations. The dollar amount that Mr. Krutko has identified is a number of highways that have been packaged up. There is work here that is part of Highway No. 7. Most of these contracts were deferred for some reason or other, usually at no fault of the contractor.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Next on my list is Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to ask a question under highways. The very last one on page 13 refers to the Deh Cho Bridge. It’s a rather large amount of money: $25 million, almost

$26 million, $25.88 million. I would like to ask why this amount of money is here. It was my understanding that we had approved the funding for the bridge and this seems like we’re asking for more money all over again. So if I could get an explanation.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Kalgutkar.

Thanks very much for the explanation. That’s all I have.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. We are on page 13, highways, not previously authorized, $63.973 million.

Let’s move along to page 14, Transportation continued, capital investment expenditures, marine, not previously authorized, $330,000.