Thursday, March 28, 2024
  • Dentec - Leaderboard - 2023 - Updated
  • Procore - Leaderboard - Jan 2022
  • IAPMO R&T Lab - Leaderboard
  • Premier Leaderboard - updated Nov 19
  • CWRE 2024 - Leaderboard
  • Revizto - Leaderboard - March and April
  • Keith Walking Floor - Leaderboard - Sept 2021
February 18, 2019

Phase 2 of the Muskrat Falls inquiry now looking into construction project details

As reported in The Telegram, the second phase of the Muskrat Falls Inquiry is looking at the construction project details, and immense cost overruns, with public hearings beginning again in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

From the point hearings wrapped in the first phase in late 2018, staff with the commission of inquiry have been continuing research and conducting interviews, preparing for this next step.

The first phase of the inquiry (split into “phases” by Justice Richard LeBlanc for organizational purposes) explored the provincial government and Crown corporation’s decision to actually pursue the hydroelectric megaproject on Labrador’s Churchill River. This next phase, focused on construction, involves public and private interests, ongoing legal disputes, and includes a period of restructuring at the province’s energy corporation and a change in political leadership.

Intervener status has been granted recently for private corporations wanting the ability to question witnesses and elicit evidence during the hearings, to protect their interests as needed. This includes Grid Solutions Canada ULC and Andritz Hydro Canada. Several other contractors on the project, including Astaldi Canada, had already applied for and been awarded standing.

The witness schedule is ever-shifting, but an update on Feb. 15 shows the first witness, following any remarks from Justice Richard LeBlanc and Commission co-counsel, will be Chief Jean-Charles Piétacho of the Conseil des Innu de Ekuanitshit. His testimony was originally expected as part of the first phase but was delayed after he refused to testify in a second language (French), demanding the ability to testify in his Indigenous language. LeBlanc said the inquiry staff would assure the right interpreter was made available.

After Piétacho, Grant Thornton’s Scott Shaffer is scheduled to present the findings of a highly anticipated forensic audit, looking at the rising cost of the project through construction.

The parties awarded standing at the inquiry have been provided a copy of the auditor’s report for review. The report will be made available to the public when it is entered into evidence, at the start of Shaffer’s testimony.

Keep reading in The Telegram

 


Watch the video and learn more about Construction Links Network – the peer-to-peer network sharing platform for the construction, building and design community.

Ideal for YOUR Press Releases | Project Updates | New Appointments | Awards & Milestones | Company News | New Products/Services | Brochures | Videos | Infographics | Blog Sharing | Events and More