Thank you, Madam Speaker. My statement today is about P3 Projects in the Northwest Territories. Following the public technical briefing on the new Stanton Territorial Hospital, which took place on February 11, 2020, officials within the Departments of Health and Social Services and Infrastructure confirmed a series of pervading issues that have been plaguing the new building since it opened in May 2019.
Madam Speaker, for clarification the initial amount designated for the new hospital was $350 million, according to the media release of October 1, 2015. This project over the 35-year period, which includes the old Stanton Legacy Building, will now cost $751 million plus. The operating and maintenance contract is also included in this P3. Boreal Health Partnership and Dexterra are the main proponents in this agreement. According to the officials of the Departments of Health and Social Services and Infrastructure this agreement/contract is being defended as a good agreement despite it putting our future governance and our people of the NWT in a very crucial financial deficit because of a very dysfunctional agreement, decisions and final signoffs being done improperly on behalf of the people of the NWT. However, as an MLA who is concerned about P3s, I think the figure that the Department of Finance provided is neither concrete nor precise and that it will cost much more than that. As all MLAs have experienced, we have had a couple of supplements in this 19th Assembly already.
Moreover, Madam Speaker, the terms and conditions of the Stanton project are not clear either. Once again, not enough attention was paid to the details of this agreement. When detail is not properly taken into account and politicians signed off on these types of agreements, these projects can and will have a major impact, both on the people of the Northwest Territories as well as the future of our government. This is exactly what happened with the P3 agreement of the new Stanton hospital along with the legacy building of the old Stanton hospital.
Could I have unanimous consent to continue my statement, Madam Speaker?
---Unanimous consent granted