Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the summer months I had a disappointing e-mail exchange with the Minister of Transportation. For several years now I’ve been waiting for the government, the Department of Transportation, to produce

and

make

publicly

available

a

comprehensive, in-depth review and analysis of the Deh Cho Bridge Project. I have repeatedly asked about work done on such an analysis, and for years now I’ve been given excuses as to why it hasn’t yet happened.

Last month I finally got a straight answer, but it’s one which gives tru

e meaning to the phrase “the

government can’t be trusted because they lie.”

On December 13, 2011, there was, in this House, a public commitment by the Transportation Minister of the day to do a full retrospective analysis of the Deh Cho Bridge Project. But the answer I received last month from Minister Beaulieu stated, “I have had discussions with my Cabinet colleagues on the pros and cons of committing additional time and resources to undertaking additional analysis of the Deh Cho Bridge Project. It has been determined that further retrospective analysis of the bridge project is not warranted at this time.” The Minister continued, “Any additional analysis at this time is not expected to result in new lessons learned and could become a distraction to other significant initiatives of the government.” A distraction, Mr. Speaker.

The Deh Cho Bridge Project was undoubtedly the most poorly handled project in this and the two

previous Assemblies. The public deserves to know why and where the project went wrong, deserves to know why it ended up costing residents, through their tax dollars, some four times the original estimate.

The e-mail answer to me went on to say that a number of analyses have taken place and that “other reviews have also been undertaken, including the presentations delivered at several venues.” Are all of these items publicly available,” I asked. Are they even available to MLAs? What are these other reviews? Presentations were made to whom? Did MLAs have access to the info in those presentations? Can the public have access to those presentations? They certainly should.

The last straw for me was this part of the answer: “The Deh Cho Bridge is functioning and operating as planned and there are no outstanding concerns regarding the processes as to procure this important piece of infrastructure.”

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted