Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that information. And, again, always happy to hear other people are paying money for things that we need.

I'm just looking at the highway reconstruction projects. And, like I said, great to hear they're at 100 percent. I note that the highway - Highway no. 3 is not on there. So is any work that would needed to be done in order to the -- sort of the approaches, etcetera, with regards to the bridge, would that come in under the bridge replacement costs, or will there be a separate piece at some point under highway reconstruction or highway costs? I guess I'm just trying to get a feel for is the Frank Channel bridge amount that was given to us by the federal government the all-in cost, or will we see some accommodation costs on the highway that we need to take care of ourselves? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I am looking at the document -- the tabled document. I do actually have an amount. So I'm not sure what has gone wrong. I do have $2.5 million for 2024-2025 showing here for the Highway 3, and specifically contemplating the fact that there would be some sections that would require strengthening in order to service the potential here. So -- or to service that highway in light of what is going to be happening with the bridge. So, yes. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, it certainly has been a long road coming. That is the wrong choice of words there. But it is still in planning. But staying in planning is important, Madam Chair. Sometimes these projects, as we've seen, advance too quickly without adequate planning and then wind up getting bogged down at the environmental assessment stage or in the geotechnical stage or whatnot. So it is my hope that that won't yet continue to happen here.

As I understand it, there were some challenges in terms of determining what type of contracting and what kind of a final routing there might be here. And it is unfortunate that it has gotten to that point. We are -- we did need to be -- to identify also parcels of land in an area where there are different ownerships over the parcels of land. If that is resolved and settled, then the next step is to actually get ready to build, and, of course, now the estimates that were in place at one time are several years old and very much predating all of the inflation that we are now all labouring under.

So, again, having the planning budget here, if the land issues have been resolved and some decisions within the communities are resolved as to where the placement of the bridge might go and how the contracting might take place, then the planning dollars here can bring about a new estimate and a higher estimate and figure out exactly what this is going to cost. It's the entirety of the Mackenzie Valley highway is -- I mean, we're into a very large number, and this bridge will be a very large part of it. And we're going to have to get a new estimate because what we have right now isn't accurate. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I'm super aware of how long cost estimates last and quotes even. I mean, you're lucky sometimes if you even get three months out of a company after they've given you a quote, so. I guess I just would be very remiss if I didn't speak a bit further to this, and general projects around the Tulita area, and the very big feeling of lack of engagement that I hear from the community, including on this bridge. They -- I have Members of that community come to me on numerous occasions to ask for updates on what is happening there. And the mayor has told me he does not feel engaged and such and so -- and not just with this project, but with the health care centre which I missed in the earliest portion.

So to me, I'm kind of starting to feel like the Great Bear River bridge is going to be this nebulous -- it's going to be the Taltson of the next project because it's just going nowhere. So has the Minister or the department considered an alternative here, rather than building this bridge on treacherous waters and such, maybe going towards a ferry system instead in which they could then employ about 12 people seasonally on the ferry as well as creating a tourism opportunity. So I guess I'd just like to know are there other things being now thought of instead of this bridge that's never happening. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I -- in the last few years of sitting here, I have not seen anything come across in the capital plans that would have considered as a ferry option, so I don't know what the full history of that might be. But I can tell you with respect to the other part of the question and public consultation, there actually have been some recent public consultations in the region around specifically the land and the access and the lead points on the bridge. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Are there any further questions under asset management? Seeing none. Member for Deh Cho.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I note that the Deh Cho bridge repair work is not listed in here. It's -- I think it's probably repair work but that's the one dealing with the cable failure. I'm just wondering if it's a bigger -- it's a bigger task than originally expected, if they have to bring in an expert from the United Kingdom, and what's the projected estimated cost to repair that project and what's the timeline? Mahsi.

Thank you. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, it is still -- you know, would certainly be my hope that we'd actually be able to get compensation for any repair work as a warranty on the bridge. Obviously that, or some form of insurance on the bridge. I don't have a final on that. The issues arose only just this summer. What -- and then the -- so the final completion of any repairs will be in June of 2024. But as I think the Member has previously mentioned -- or the Minister has previously mentioned, there was certainly work done adequate to ensure the safety of the bridge for continued usage and passage made between now and then. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi for that. Also, infrastructure highways went into the community to shore up the riverbank where it was about five feet from the road -- the access road into the community. And what I noticed that they did there was they just compacted the fill in that area. And that's right next to the river where the ice -- when you look on the riverbanks of -- in that area there, the ice really chews up, you know, the -- the banks there pretty -- you know, a significant amount. And why did infrastructure just put compact fill, knowing that when you do stuff like that it's going to slump anyways once the ice hits it? If you can provide details on that. Mahsi.

Thank you. Minister of Finance.

Madam Chair, we're beyond my skill. I'll turn that one to Mr. Brennan, please.

ADM Brennan

Thank you. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Madam Chair. Has the department hired engineers, or they're using in-house engineers and have they been to the community yet? What's the expected timeline for this type of work here? Mahsi.