Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the House was once again witness to another announcement of more money being required by the Department of Transportation and its Minister for the sinkhole we all know as the Deh Cho Bridge.
Many MLAs and many more residents of the NWT are extremely perplexed on how this department and its Ministers cannot seem to complete large-scale projects on time and on budget.
Moreover, it seems this time the department had to negotiate an agreement-in-principle within an already negotiated contract price in order to get the work done. I’m not sure if many people picked up on that but, Mr. Speaker, this is absolutely absurd.
The Minister and department claim they had few options as the work has fallen behind schedule and the opening of the bridge this fall was in jeopardy. Excuse me, Mr. Speaker, but isn’t this what negotiated contract pricing clearly defines when both parties sign a contract? Furthermore, what about the concept of holdbacks? As the client, why aren’t these options being leveraged and exercised?
They’re not, Mr. Speaker, because this government is trying to save face with the general public in committing to a November 2012 opening at all costs and our current contractor knows this, hence the so-called, “Pony up, GNWT, if you want to see your bridge built this year.”
It’s painfully obvious that this government is clearly setting a pattern of concern in how it deals with cost overruns for large-scale projects and negotiated contracts. It’s only a matter of time when this
Member will bring further examples into this House that will prove this point once again.
So to all of you 41,462 men, women and children in the Northwest Territories, the Minister of Transportation just asked you for another $241.18 each this week to make him look good. But don’t worry, this pales in comparison to the final bill you’ll get under your door when you see your invoice for just under $8,900. No, the GNWT does not take PayPal.