Problems plagued N.W.T. bridge project: Handley

Former Northwest Territories premier Joe Handley, who signed off on the Deh Cho Bridge project before he left office, said he would have dealt with the controversial and increasingly expensive project much differently.

In a CBC Radio interview that aired Wednesday, Handley said he had agreed, as premier, to a fixed price of just over $130 million for the bridge to be built over the Mackenzie River in Fort Providence, N.W.T.

The Deh Cho Bridge will provide a year-round road link between southern Canada and North Slave communities such as Yellowknife, thus eliminating the summer ferry service and winter ice road across the river.

The project, which was a public-private partnership between the government and the Deh Cho Bridge Corp., is over one year behind and is expected to cost $182 million, with the territorial government asking MLAs to approve an extra $15 million to get it back on track.

The government also announced this month that it would take over management of the bridge project from the Deh Cho Bridge Corp.

Handley, who retired from territorial politics in the fall of 2007, said the current government is responsible for allowing the bridge project's costs to balloon.

As the public partner the territorial government should have kept a closer eye on the bridge corporation, he said.

Problems began early

Handley said problems began when the design engineer left the project shortly after the contract was awarded in early 2008. Handley would not say why the engineer departed.

He added problems also emerged in the relationship between the Deh Cho Bridge Corp., which was managing the project, and general contractor Atcon Construction of Miramichi, N.B.

"I mean, you don't have your designer leave early on a project like this, particularly on negative terms, which I understand is what happened," Handley said. "That's a problem."

Handley said he would have insisted on the guaranteed fixed price, and negotiated a new price for any changes to the bridge's design.

"He gave the government a price and said, 'I'll build the bridge for a maximum of $132 million,' or whatever it was. And I would have said, 'Look, you did it, that's your problem, now build a bridge,'" he said.

Despite the problems facing the project, Handley said he still believes the Deh Cho Bridge will be worth the bigger price tag.

Asked to approve extra cash

Meanwhile, regular MLAs have been formally asked by the N.W.T. government to approve the extra $15 million for the bridge, with some saying they're resigned to spending whatever it takes to get the work done.

Others, like Kam Lake MLA David Ramsay, questioned whether the bridge was the good investment it was meant to be.

"There's a lot of people here in Yellowknife that think, 'We need a bridge and we want a bridge.' But you know, I want a Ferrari ... but I can't afford a Ferrari, so I'm not going to go out and buy one," Ramsay said in the legislative assembly Tuesday.

"The mentality of the last government was, 'We can't afford a bridge, but you know what? We're going to go out and get this bridge anyway, no matter if we have to mortgage the future.'"

Ramsay and other MLAs said they want guarantees that the bridge will be in competent hands before any more money is spent.