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NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C. – BC Conservative Leader John Rustad says if elected his government would launch an investigation into the problem-plagued North Shore wastewater treatment plant.

The project has experienced delays and ballooning costs and Rustad said an independent investigation is necessary because “it’s time to open up the books and figure out where this project went wrong.”

A BC Conservative Party release said the investigation would ask:

• How did a project initially estimated to cost far less balloon into a $3.86 billion catastrophe?
• What role did David Eby and Justin Trudeau’s administrations play in allowing these costs to escalate?
• Why were North Vancouver residents kept in the dark as the budget spiralled out of control?
• Were there alternative, more cost-effective solutions that were ignored?

The projected cost of the project as determined by Metro Vancouver will be $3.68 billion.

“The staggering price tag means that residents of North Vancouver are on the hook for an additional $725 per year — for the next 30 years — just to pay off the debt incurred by this mismanaged project,” Rustad said.

“The cost overruns on this so-called green initiative stink to high heaven. What started as a necessary infrastructure upgrade has now turned into a monument to government waste and inefficiency.”