Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Member for thanking me. I think this is the first time he’s ever thanked me for anything I’ve done on this project.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve had a guarantee on this project all along on the work that was to be done. I think we

have better than what would be in the bond at this point. We have cash in the bank. We have done an analysis. We have had our contractors look at what needs to be rectified. In most cases, Mr. Speaker, it’s a matter of going in and doing the actual testing, as we haven’t had all the documentation that we require. But to go in and do the testing on something that’s under water and is covered with rock at this point is just about as expensive as fixing the situation.

Mr. Speaker, we have some very good estimates. Of course, at this point, they’re still estimates. We feel that the cost of doing the work that was outlined in the Levelton Report will be anywhere from $4 million to $7 million, Mr. Speaker. That’s not even half of the money that we have as holdback for this project as we go forward. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, last year, as well, given what happened with ATCON, I had asked some questions about Ruskin and the Minister had confirmed that Ruskin had a 50 percent performance bond in place for the remainder of the work. I’d like to ask the Minister who holds that 50 percent performance bond that Ruskin has. Thank you.

I’m not sure as to who actually holds it. I would have to go and find that out. I will commit to finding that out and providing the information to the Member. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in the Minister’s statement earlier today, he had advised the House that Ruskin was going to come up with a revised construction schedule sometime by the end of February and, as I mentioned in my statement, time is money. If this project gets delayed, it will undoubtedly cost more. I am just wondering why it is that Regular Members have not seen the contract between Ruskin and the Government of the Northwest Territories for the remainder of the work on the Deh Cho Bridge Project so that we can better understand what our liabilities are and what would be eligible cost overruns, should the project be delayed much further. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe the Member has seen any contract from any projects we have across the government. It is not a practice that we provide the information to Regular Members on. We would need the consent of the contractors and, in most situations, the contractors would not agree to it, so that is why we haven’t provided it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am handing out thank yous here, but I will thank the Minister for providing the Concession Agreement to committee some time ago. It was an embargoed

copy, that Concession Agreement, that we could have a look at in the committee room. We couldn’t make copies of it and hand it out, but we at least got a copy of it. If the department would let us have a look at the contract so that we can have a lawyer have a look at it and make our own judgments on what eligible cost overruns and delays in this project will mean to the overall cost of this project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, more thank yous. Since assuming responsibility for this project, I made every effort to provide information to all Members and to the public. We have tried to make all documents available. We have provided regular updates to the MLAs. We have set up media briefings. We have had technical briefings. We have set up a website that has a camera that shows progress of the construction. We have now formed mail-out newsletters to the general public. We provided access to the Levelton Report, something that normally would not be done for any project, under any circumstance. We have had a review by the Auditor General, Mr. Speaker. It is our job as a department to ensure that due diligence is done on any contract we sign. At this point, we are not prepared to release the contract. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in my Member’s statement I spoke about mould-free home constructions and mould-free techniques for building homes. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation what policies and guidelines are currently in place for our Housing Corporation to do this initiative. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The standards that we use today are basically mould-free construction. There is moisture-resistant gyproc that is used in the washrooms, and all the proper ventilation that is needed. When they move into a brand new house, they can be assured that it is a mould-free unit and if they continue to maintain the unit as it is supposed to be, it will always be mould-free. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the Minister is aware of some of the techniques that we are using, but as I have learned yesterday, there are other new materials out there. Does he know what BluWood is? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to see Mike Holmes building a house in Sachs Harbour at 40 below. Then he will see blue wood.

---Laughter

Actually, I don’t know what BluWood is. I will find out and I will get back to the Member and will share that information with him and all other Members. I can assure the Member that...(inaudible)... construction practices, if we’re able to incorporate them into our designs. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I had used that question only to show the Minister that there are new techniques and materials out there. BluWood is the new standard in construction that actually resists mould in homes. Can the Minister direct his department to start looking at mould-free construction in homes, the new materials that are out there? I think that would go a long way for our clients and constituents, if we start constructing our homes using the mould-free method. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we are always looking at new technology that is out there and see how we can incorporate that into some of the design of the houses that we have. I still believe that you can have a house using regular wood frame and material, that as long as you maintain the unit properly and build using moisture-resistant standards, you can still have a fairly mould-free unit. We have to also understand that, in the climate that we operate in, it is awfully expensive and it is not as easily accessible as a place like Toronto where there are millions of people and thousands of places to choose materials from. We don’t have that luxury. We work with what we have. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to ask the Minister to direct his department to change some policies and guidelines that we do have mould-free construction techniques and materials and investigate it thoroughly, because that BluWood is almost the same cost as regular wood that we are using. I don’t think it would add to the construction of new homes, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister to start directing his department and looking at policies and guidelines. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I will ask the department to have a look at the different types of construction and some of his concerns that the Member had raised.

I just want to point out again that the construction that we use nowadays are construction standards that are acceptable if the units are maintained properly. There are lots of different reasons you can have mould. We can get into that discussion today or I can share them with the Member, but part of

the responsibility is on the builder, obviously, and some of the responsibility, again, is back on the tenant. I will ask the department to have a look at the different technologies out there and see if we are able to incorporate them into our designs. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like Member Menicoche, we certainly heard and learned a lot of interesting information from Mike Holmes when he discussed it. I was really glad that Mike Holmes shares my concerns about the lack of consumer protection for residents. The funny thing is, when we told my son the other day he was coming to town, he asked, “Is he coming to fix my house?” Mike Holmes brought to light a lot of important issues.

Again, to hearken back to my Member’s statement, the consumer protection issue is a very significant one. He highlighted in Ontario it is important for new home warranties, as well as the fact, when you get a house, we can talk about protection for disclosure agreements. Mr. Speaker, I have raised this issue with the Minister of MACA before, which the answer that basically came back was a polite, “go away.” “Until it is an issue that is raised outside with screaming constituents, it is not an issue on the radar of MACA.” Mr. Speaker, would the Minister of MACA be willing to relook at this particular issue to create consumer protection for our territorial residents, which could be mirrored somewhat similar as Alberta and Ontario? It is a very simple process. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t wait for the next episode of Holmes on Homes when he credits Mr. Hawkins with some of the information that he shared with him.

Mr. Speaker, real estate sales are regulated under the Real Estate Licensing Act and there really is no provision in there right now for mandating a warranty on homes. With so little time left in this Assembly, I am not sure we would be able to do it within the life of this Assembly. But if it is something that the Member feels strongly enough about, we could put it in a transition document for the 17

th

Legislative Assembly to consider. I have stated before that this is not one that we have a lot of concerns with, but if it is one that Members feel strongly about, I would propose we put it in a

transition document in the 17

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Assembly. They can

then decide if it is a priority for them. Thank you.