More questions on contracting of Whitehorse school

There were more questions in the Yukon legislature Thursday over the tender and construction of a new F.H. Collins Secondary School in Whitehorse.

The government issued a second tender this week for the construction project, with a deadline of December 12th. The first tender was deemed a failure when the lowest bid for the $38.6 million school came in $10 million over budget.

Construction is now expected to be substantially completed during the 2015-16 school year.

But there are concerns about the second tender process.

NDP leader Liz Hanson was the first to raise the issue in the legislature yesterday. She says the stipulation that that bidders must have completed at least three similar projects within the last five years, means local contractors will be left out.

"Why on earth would the Yukon Party deliberately structure the tender to reduce job opportunities for Yukoners?" Hanson asked in the house.

Premier Darrell Pasloski, not education minister Elaine Taylor, replied that he's committed to fiscal prudence.

"This government believes in fiscal responsibility,” Pasloski said. “It believes in spending taxpayer's money wisely, and so what we did was the right thing, Mr. Speaker. We went back and we re-looked at this project."

Liberal Sandy Silver accused the government of misleading the public. Silver said access to information documents show the government knew it hadn't allocated enough money during the first tender process.

"They prove the government knew, before it even tendered the project, that it was going to be more than the $38.6 million and for some reason they went ahead anyway,” Silver said. “This raises many many questions, and I'll be asking all of them."

The school currently accommodates about 630 students. The new design will bring that number up that to 750.