Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for joining us at the end of the working day. This is a new time slot for us, and I appreciate your being here to participate with us.
It's my understanding that in 2017 the original cost estimate to proceed with this project was about $6 billion. As of the end of March in 2021, the information we've gathered is that the revised cost estimate was about $10 billion to $12 billion. The estimate doubled in cost in five years.
The cost of everything has gone up. We all know the inflationary pressures. The cost of borrowing has skyrocketed.
This question will be for the Via team first. Given those escalating cost estimates prior to the inflation and interest rate crisis, how many billion dollars more do you think it will take to actually get this project built? What is the current estimate to get the project completed?