Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, this is a $200 million asset with some of the budgets dating back to 2013, so probably an asset that is worth far more than that today. It's an asset that was built through a P3, which gave us the ability to not pay that full cost value of that asset, and yet to be able to have a point of presence for the internet across and up the entire value. And today, Madam Chair, earlier there was raised with me the fact that the auditor general putting out a report about telecommunications. Again, I only had a very brief opportunity to look at it, but one of the things that came out was that, in fact, the Northwest Territories has better internet access than many First Nations and Indigenous communities across Canada, than many rural and remote communities across Canada, and I have no doubt that part of that is the fact that we have that point of presence running up the valley.
So as for being, you know -- whether or not there's bad management or bad project management, there was an asset that was built and delivered; it is being actively used; it has delivered on providing a point of presence. As far as the details of the fact that some -- one of those parties decided to, under the agreement, raise some concerns about project overruns, Madam Chair, again, that process went through the project agreement.
I appeared in front of committee. I appeared in front of committee and the opportunity to speak in an in-camera proceeding about those details. I can't speak to it publicly because there's an agreement, as there always is, including in all private business transactions when there's disputes between parties, which is what keeps an awful lot of lawyers employed because it happens all the time, I can't speak to it publicly because I am under a settlement agreement. I could have spoken to it when I was under in confidentiality in-camera proceedings. I can't do it here.
But, Madam Chair, again, it's a $200 million asset. I realize there's now been a settlement reached on a many years' process. It avoided the litigation risk. Going through mediation is not litigation. It is not going to court. We avoided going to court. The parties were able to reach a settlement. The settlement is now before the committee so that the public is aware that there was a settlement reached. I suppose at this point I won't say anything else about it. The concerns around providing different and other capital projects in different communities can go through the capital planning process. It's unrelated to the fact that there's been a settlement reached under the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link Project. Thank you, Madam Chair.