Deh Cho Bridge arguments heat up N.W.T. legislature

The debate over the Deh Cho Bridge in the Northwest Territories came to a head Wednesday, with one MLA accusing Premier Floyd Roland of misleading the assembly on who will be held responsible for the multimillion-dollar private-public project.

Regular MLAs have been battering Roland with questions about the government's financial commitment to the Deh Cho Bridge Corp.'s project — which would provide a year-round road link over the Mackenzie River — since the assembly resumed sitting earlier this month.

Doubt has been particularly cast over who would be on the hook for the project, and how much it would really cost, should something go wrong.

"The premier is misleading the house. He says the banks are on [the] hook for this $160 million," Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen said during question period Wednesday.

"You know, let's be honest: the territorial government is on the hook for this, and I have the concession agreement to prove it."

Roland fired back, suggesting that Groenewegen was implying that he was lying to the assembly. He argued that he had never said the banks would be the only parties taking a risk on the bridge.

"You can look at Hansard. I have not said that. The member is, again, accusing me of lying to this assembly. And in fact, lying to this assembly is as good as putting my head on a platter," he said.

Government on the line for $9M: Roland

Roland insisted that the banks that would issue the loan guarantees for the bridge, which he said will cost between $160 million and $165 million, and would be at risk if the bridge does not get built or if the government changes its commitment to the project.

He added that the government is really on the line for $9 million, which is the amount of the loan guarantee.

"In this whole scenario [we] provided much information. The questions in this house — the dollar values attached, who's at risk — the fact that [we're] agreeing with the members … we are in fact backstopping this," he said.

"But the banks are lending the money, so they're at risk of lending the money for a project that is a go or no-go. So that's not misleading the house ... that's stating a fact. I may have to look at the Hansard myself to see if the member is impugning some motive here on my behalf."

Both Roland and Groenewegen suggested that the other broke the rules of the house. Speaker Paul Delorey is expected to rule on both members' accusations on Thursday.

The territorial government has committed to giving $4.5 million annually over 35 years to finance the bridge corporation's project.

Cost could be closer to $240M, MLA suggests

Kam Lake MLA David Ramsay suggested that the bridge's total cost would be closer to $240 million, once inflation is factored in, contrary to Roland's cost estimate of $160 million to $165 million. He also argued that taxpayers would be on the hook for that money, to which Roland disagreed.

Much of the current debate is tied to a concession agreement signed between the territorial government and the Deh Cho Bridge Corp. last month. Details of that agreement were given to MLAs two weeks ago, but are not to be made public because a private corporation is involved.

Such restrictions on what MLAs can say about the agreement has made open debate difficult, Groenewegen said.
 
"Here we are now, the poor suckers that got to read the concession agreement, and we're sitting here trying to ask questions in the public interest," she said.

"But we are bound by confidentiality because of the restrictions that were put on us, so that we cannot be transparent and open with the people of the Northwest Territories."

Lawyers have until Friday to wrap up final details on the agreement. Regular MLAs have asked to see those details so they know exactly what's on the table. However, Roland said he is not prepared to hand them a veto on the bridge.

Rethink handling of private-public partnerships

The overall dispute over the bridge prompted Great Slave MLA Glen Abernethy to ask the government to rethink how it works with the private sector.

"Before entering into future partnership arrangements, will the government commit to developing a policy and process for dealing with these types of projects in order to ensure transparency and accountability?" Abernethy asked.

Roland admitted that the bridge project — the first major project the territory is building with private-sector help — has had its problems. At the same time, he added that the territory cannot escape partnerships with the private sector if it wants development in the future.

"For example, I've talked about the MacKenzie Valley highway, there's hydro potential in the North, and none of those would be able to be done within our existing confines," he said.

"Realizing that what we've had to deal with through this process, I would absolutely agree: we need to develop an absolutely clear process so everybody knows what happens at what stage of events."