Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Glad we were able to clear that up. I just want to go on to the Tlicho road. The allocation is $67 million. It is the largest single item in our budget, the capital budget. It really dwarfs almost everything else. I just have some questions about it. Can the Minister tell me, at a fairly high level, what is the $67 million actually going to do? Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can I get some assurance that it is actually going to get spent this year? Because I think this project is still in an environmental assessment. There have been no contracts signed. Is the money actually going to get spent, and what is it for? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To give you a high level on it, there is $67 million allocated for this road this year. We are still going through the environmental assessment process. We have to get the permits in place once that is done. Most of the cost is going to be around engineering and construction of this in the first year, depending on who is selected as the proponent to build this section of highway. Some people might escalate the speed of construction of road versus the others, and there are also some soft costs internally tied to it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am not sure I am feeling terribly reassured about this. Maybe I will just change tack here a bit. I believe the names of the three firms, or groups or whatever, that were deemed to be qualified have been released. Can the Minister tell me whether any of those groups has any Tlicho companies? Are there any joint ventures or anything involved in any of that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. All three proponents that have been selected that are short-listed for this project are going to have Tlicho companies involved in the construction of this road. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The three names that I have seen here, if I can find them again, are Aurora Access Partners, NAE Transportation Partners, North Star Infrastructure. The Minister is telling me that there are Tlicho companies or joint ventures of some sort that are in these three groupings? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. All three are believed to have Tlicho involvement, but when we do the evaluation of the three proponents when the bids come in, that will be part of the evaluation process. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister, without breaching any confidence, tell us what are these Tlicho companies? Because that is not the information I have been provided with to date. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The details of this will be when they put in their full proposal to submit their bid. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. What we know now, though, the members of these groups, none of them are Tlicho companies. Can I confirm that with the Minister? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly. Ms. Robertson.

Thank you for that. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. One of the three seems to have a Tlicho company. I am happy to get more information from the Minister if he wants to provide it, but that does not sound the sort of Northern content that is often been used to try to drive these quests for large capital road projects by our government. If the Minister wants to provide more information, I would be happy to get it.

I do have one other question. Surely to goodness by now we must have an estimate of what the O and M costs will be on an ongoing basis for that road once it is constructed, even if it is done as a P3. Does the department have any sort of an estimate of what that O and M cost might look like? We have had a lot of discussion here in the House today about the ongoing needs for other highways that are already built. What is the estimate of an O and M cost for this new project? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have talked quite a bit about the O and M on this road. On a P3 project, though, that is part of the proponent's bid. Whoever the successful proponent is is going to have to build and construct this road, guarantee it for 25 years, and look after the O and M and capital costs of all the maintenance of that road going on for 25 years. It has nothing to do with us. It is just part of their bid package. Thank you, Mr. Chair.