A former Transportation Minister who first announced the Kicking Horse Canyon highway expansion project says he’s outraged by the sudden jump in costs.
Kamloops-South MLA Todd Stone says this is the second four-laning project on the Trans-Canada announced by the NDP this year that has come in dramatically over budget.
“We’ve seen the cost jump by 35 per cent for the Trans-Canada Highway project that the NDP announced back in May, that’s the Illecillewaet project just east of Revelstoke. That project has gone up by 35 per cent and it’s actually going to provide for one kilometre less of four-laning.”
Stone used the Kamloops-Thompson School District as an example of what could be done with the extra $151-million-dollars being put into the four-laning project east of Golden.
“With that kind of money, you could deliver on almost all of School District 73’s capital program asks for the forthcoming year. You’d be able to build a new school in Pineview Valley, a new school in Sun Peaks, an expansion at Westmount and could deliver a brand new school replacement for South Kam Secondary.”
The Kicking Horse Canyon project is now expected to cost $601 million compared to the budgeted amount of $450 million when it was announced in 2016. The federal government capped its contribution to the highway project at $215 million – meaning taxpayers in B-C are on the hook for the entire cost over-run.
Transport Minister Claire Trevena says $23 million is because of interest on debt owning for work already done, and says another $128 million is because of increased costs for labor and materials.
Stone reiterated concerns of the province’s Community Benefit Agreement which requires union-only labor; he says it’s ridiculous the NDP can suggest $601 million and a two-year delay on construction is a good deal for B.C. taxpayers.