N.B. still on hook for N.W.T. bridge
Full cost to taxpayers won't be known for three to six weeks
The New Brunswick government says it will be three to six weeks before it learns what the province's taxpayers will have to pay to repair a bridge under construction in the Northwest Territories.
The now-defunct Atcon Group from Miramichi, N.B., was the general contractor on the Deh Cho Bridge project across the Mackenzie River but was removed from that role last year.
A construction audit released by the government of the Northwest Territories this week highlighted a number of problems with the project that will need to be fixed.
The previous Liberal government in New Brunswick had provided a $13.4-million loan guarantee to help the project get developed and last October, the Progressive Conservative government agreed to honour payment up to that amount.
Marie-Josée Groulx, a spokeswoman for Business New Brunswick, says that money will be used once a $2.9-million fund from the Northwest Territories government withheld from Atcon has been exhausted.
However, she said, it's premature to say how much of it will be needed.
The previous Liberal government was criticized for providing large loan guarantees to Atcon, including one for $50 million in June 2009.