The NDP says it’s seriously concerned about allegations the BC Liberals may have overpaid millions of dollars on contracts relating to the construction of the Port Mann Bridge.
Housing Minister Selina Robinson said the Transportation Minister is looking into what could be a “mismanagement” of taxpayer dollars.
“In the days and weeks ahead, we’ll be paying very close attention to how to address this and certainly I think we need to recognize that this was under the BC Liberals watch,” said Robinson.
Robinson says an investigation could be on the cards.
“These were their choices, these were their actions, and all British Columbians should be outraged at the choices they made.”
WATCH: Port Mann revenues fail to make a dent in the cost of the bridge
An investigation by CBC found the province allegedly paid about $150-million to speed up construction work using a change order, which allows a contractor to collect future costs.
“The BC Liberal government had a certain way of making sure that their choices took care of their friends while they were making cuts to health care and education for British Columbians,” said Robinson.
The BC Liberals have yet to respond to our request for comment.
Meanwhile, Green Party leader Andrew Weaver said a lot more questions need to be asked to get to the bottom of what actually happened with the Port Mann contracts.
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Weaver said there is a civil service to look into the use of taxpayer money.
“It is very odd, where the independent oversight was essentially contracted out. The Crown Corporation didn’t have an auditing kind of checks and balance processes within it,” said Weaver.
“So it’s just very, very, odd what’s going on and very serious questions need to be asked and I think that the only way we can get that is through a formal independent review.”
He said these allegations show the Liberals were fiscally irresponsible despite its attempts to show the party ran a tight ship when it came to spending.