Saskatchewan engineers pulled up in front of the Legislative Building with a bus on Friday morning to offer a tour of the Regina Bypass and show how local engineers have been involved with the project.

The Government of Saskatchewan has faced criticism for hiring a French consortium to lead construction of the $2 billion project, but these engineers wanted to display a different angle.

“Right now I want to point out that while much has been made of the private sector international consortium leading the Regina Bypass project, many may not realize the role of local engineering companies,” said Paul Walsh from the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies.

Highways minister Lori Carr and Conservative MP Tom Likiwski were invited aboard the bus. Carr passed on the tour, saying she had recently been out to see the bypass and agreed with the engineers. Lukiwski, however, jumped at the chance.

“What we are going to see today I believe is really a marvel in engineering,” he said.

NDP MLA Trent Wotherspoon was less enthused about the tour.

“The bypass unfortunately represents the biggest overrun in Saskatchewan’s history and it has added in a massive way to our deficit and to our debt,” Wotherspoon said.

The bypass has a projected completion date of October 2019.