Auditor General Sheila Fraser said Tuesday that whether the Deh Cho Bridge project undergoes a full audit would depend on what auditors find during their review of the N.W.T. government's financial statements. (CBC)

Federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser says she will take her first look at the numbers behind the $165-million Deh Cho Bridge project in the Northwest Territories as part of her annual review of the territorial government's books.

Fraser said she has received a number of requests from N.W.T. MLAs to fully audit the controversial project, which has recently been delayed because of design changes and disputes involving its contractor, Atcon Construction of Miramichi, N.B.

"We will be looking at that [project] as part of our audit of the government financial statements," Fraser told reporters in Yellowknife on Tuesday.

"That project is, of course, a significant project and certainly the financial implications of that, we will be looking at. And then, I think, depending on what we see there, we will decide if we will go further or not."

The auditor general's review of the N.W.T. government's public accounts is due to be completed in October.

Permanent road link

Some MLAs have accused the government of rushing to approve the bridge project without properly consulting them or the public.

Once completed, the bridge will provide a permanent road link over the Mackenzie River at Fort Providence, N.W.T.

That link will connect Yellowknife and other communities in the N.W.T.'s North Slave region to northern Alberta year-round.

Currently, motorists have to take a ferry across the Mackenzie River in the summer or drive across ice in winter.

Last month, the territorial government and officials with the Deh Cho Bridge Corp., which is responsible for building and operating the bridge, announced construction will be delayed by at least a year.

That means the bridge will not open in the fall of 2010 as originally scheduled.

Fraser audits government contracts

Fraser was in Yellowknife on Tuesday to release her audit of the territorial government's contracting practices.

Officials looked at 120 randomly selected government contracts from the 2007-08 fiscal year, including 40 each from the departments of public works, health and social services, and transportation.

While Fraser said most of the contracts were awarded in a fair and open manner, she noted that in 57 per cent of cases, government policies and regulations in managing those contracts were not followed.

"Most of them, I guess, I would classify as … honest mistakes," she said.

"It would be very rare that we would see 100 per cent compliance."

The audit noted that the Transportation Department initially awarded a $66,000 road-grading tender to a construction company, but the contract later ballooned to $325,000 after the scope of the job was changed.

Fraser said an independent review body is needed to hear government contracting disputes.

The government has agreed to that and four other recommendations laid out in the audit.