Mr. Speaker, there is always potential for cost overruns on a project of this nature. We have already experienced that. There are unforeseen circumstances that are not identified in the contract that is at no fault of the contractor. Of course, that would become our responsibility, Mr. Speaker. We have worked this contract with our current contractor. We feel it is a fair one. The date, of course, is always going to be up for discussion with the general public as we move forward. We would like to meet that date; however, we are not going to jeopardize any issues around safety or quality. Things of that nature have to be kept in the forefront and our goal is to build a bridge that is going to be there for the long haul. It is going to be there for something that people will admire and come to see. That is where we place our priority, Mr. Speaker. We are working towards getting this project done without jeopardizing any safety or quality issues. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The answer is yes. Right now, the challenge that we are facing is to look at the construction methods that are going to be required to provide the final completion portion of the decking including the asphalt pour and we have come to realize that there is going to be certain challenges as the weather is going to be cold at that time of the year and how do we accommodate that and how is the contractor proposing to do that. There is some technical information that has come forward that we need to review and confirm whether it is acceptable or not. That is the information that we need to, on an ongoing basis, continue to work at. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I should point out to the Member that the Auditor General did an operational review or look at the government portion of this project. They didn’t audit anything else. It wasn’t a financial audit. They didn’t look at our contractors or talk to them, so there are a lot of things that maybe could have been clarified. The Auditor General was pretty clear that she wasn’t satisfied that the contingency was enough, as the Member had indicated. We looked at the project. We looked at the requirements of what was needed to complete this project. We had a professional team give us their best advice and we felt that the $2 million was sufficient. We also are now a year into the project and we have only used $300,000. Mr. Speaker, we have no reason to believe that we may need more. But having said that, there may be unforeseen circumstances that will require us to put further investment. I can’t predict that. We are on track for the budget, Mr. Speaker. That is all I can point to at this point. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Member should know by now where the budget is. He approved portions of it in the last couple of budgets. The toll collection portion was approved over the last two budget years. It is a separate issue. It is a separate budget. It is kept separate because it is not part of the construction. It is a budget that will be maintained for the life of this bridge. The Auditor General indicated they wanted

us to roll it in. We disagree. The construction project is going to end within the next while, but the toll collection is always going to be there. Within our budget for fish habitat and electrical and other miscellaneous, we have $2.5 million slotted and we have a budget line for that. Mr. Speaker, for cleanup of contaminants, this government has a budget of $20 million. All these issues that are raised, unfortunately, were flagged. Maybe further clarity could have been provided but we didn’t have that opportunity. Thank you.

A perfect example, by the comments made, that he doesn’t agree with anything that we’ve provided him. We have provided numerous briefings and I’ve just indicated to him that this has been signed off by three different engineers, it has been reviewed by our team, some world-class engineers that have given their approval. Mr. Speaker, we have dealt with all the risks that are involved. We’ve reviewed it. We’ve had the Levelton Report, which did a technical review. We’ve put a plan of action together to address these issues that have come forward. Some of them have also come forward through the Auditor General’s report by the Member that instigated the motion that required this. It has been a real challenge to deal with an auditor. For the 12 months that this project has been in our possession, we have been audited for eight of those. I’m not sure who is going to satisfy his questions, but I can reassure him that we have a team. We have a framework that was recognized by the Auditor General. There has been no question of safety or quality. I think things are moving very well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s an expected comment, I guess, from this MLA that hasn’t agreed with anything that we’ve provided him. Mr. Speaker, on this occasion there has been a number of approvals to the design. It has the piers which have been signed off by a designer. We had the superstructure that also has been approved and signed off by a second designer. We also have some repairs on some of the deficiencies that were signed off by another engineer. Mr. Speaker, we have to realize that as a government we did overview on this design and all our engineers inspected it and approved it. We are currently now engaged with a contractor to look at providing an overarching approval which would require one engineer to give its final design. That’s in the works, Mr. Speaker. We have already seen the first draft of the recommendations and we’ll continue moving that forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Investing in infrastructure to improve access to communities is a key priority of the Government of the Northwest Territories. When the Deh Cho Bridge is complete, it will benefit NWT residents by providing a safe, reliable all-weather link from the South to the North Slave region, providing access and economic benefits to all residents.

Today I rise to respond to the mid-project performance audit of the Deh Cho Bridge construction project by the Auditor General of Canada.

The Auditor General identified concerns with the management of partnership risks in phase 1 of the project, which led to project delays and cost increases. We acknowledge those concerns. She also notes that the Department of Transportation has put a framework in place to manage key risks in phase 2, and that quality assurance and quality control have improved on the project as a result.

The government has accepted the three recommendations of the Auditor General and incorporated lessons learned from phase 1 into future capital project management. These steps are already underway as part of our commitment to best practices and prudent management.

I note that the Auditor General took no issue with our belief, which I have often stated, that the Deh Cho Bridge is being built to the highest standards of safety and quality, meeting best practices for design quality and construction standard. The

Auditor General pointed to the need to assure the Legislative Assembly and the public that we are effectively managing the remaining risks on the project. This is something that I am pleased to do.

I’m proud of our project team. They have identified and addressed each and every quality assurance and quality control issue on the project. Steps have been taken to ensure that any additional risks are identified, mitigated and managed to ensure a sound and safe bridge.

Our risk management processes were designed to be worthy of this important piece of infrastructure by reflecting the most current best practices in bridge building. We’ve engaged risk management experts to provide input and advice on risk issues. We put in place an effective project management process and our team is expert in the roles they play. We require industry best practices for quality control and quality assurance. Finally, we continuously identify risks and track mitigation measures. I’m confident that we are adequately managing risks to ensure the high standards of quality and safety are maintained on this project.

This is not to say that we can prevent all risks. As with any capital project, there are risks related to schedule, cost and technical issues that we are addressing.

Despite the current schedule delays caused by the late steel deliveries, we project that the bridge will be built within budget. The contractor has added an extra shift to help ensure the north side launch of the superstructure is completed before breakup. All bridge components will be delivered and on site before then. The contractor has provided us a revised construction schedule which we’re evaluating to determine whether the contractor completion date can be met without compromising quality and safety. I will update this House when that review is complete.

Finally, we’re refining our toll collection system to ensure we’re able to capture all the revenue that is due from commercial operators using the bridge. We have a team working hard to address administrative details that remain, particularly the capture of revenue from occasional traffic. This will be completed before the bridge opens to traffic.

Members of the Legislative Assembly have visited the project and I would like to again extend an

invitation for Members to come and see the work that has been done and talk to our world-class project team who are building a safe, reliable, high-quality all-weather connection that will contribute to sustainable, vibrant and safe communities. This will be a bridge that our children will be proud of and that people from all around the world will come and admire.

Mr. Speaker, we are looking at it already. We have looked at the device and try to see if it would work in the conditions that we live in. At this point, we are not convinced it will work. However, we will study options, if not this particular device, then maybe there are other things out there that could work to allow certain individuals to keep their jobs or whatever the case may be. We will continue to monitor. We will continue to research it and share the information with the Member. Thank you.

I’d have to confirm, but I believe it would require changing the Motor Vehicles Act. Thank you.