On government-wide issues we would like to make committee comments rather than resolutions on two issues.
For the first time the Government of the Northwest Territories has presented a Five Year Capital Plan. In order to make the most use of this viable information the committee believes that it should be readily available to the communities and contractors to facilitate planning, preparation and feedback. It should be recognized that this is a plan, accordingly readers should be cautioned that since plans are based on assumptions regarding future events and funding availability, actual future year projects and amounts are not committed and will vary from the information presented and the variations may be material. In addition, it is anticipated that the information disclosed will not negatively impact on the actual contract awarding prices, these are budgets, however the final contract awards will be based on open tender competitions. This is our first comment with respect to public information.
The other committee comment was on project substantiation. Again, Members were pleased to be able to refer to project substantiation sheets in the S.C.O.F. capital document to answer many initial questions. There is no question is has speeded up the process of being able to review the budget. However, when Members referred to the project cost estimate grid, the capital cost line did not contain future year amounts identical to those contained in the five year capital planning spreadsheet. In addition, recoveries and O & M costs did not appear to be completed showing all related recoveries and the ongoing O & M costs associated with capital projects.
Finally, performance measurements were not provided against which Members could gauge. For example, when we calculated construction costs per square foot for the Arctic Bay Hamlet Office, the standing committee was able to identify an area that was out of line with the industry standards which should be expected. Subsequent government action resulted in an actual tender price of $751,820 compared to the 1991 Capital Estimates of $1.115 million, or in our eyes a saving of $363,180. This was following the committee's recommendations. Our examples included tenant improvements per square foot, unit costs for a vehicle, construction costs for a housing unit. The committee feels the government should further strengthen the information provided to S.C.O.F. with the Capital Estimates by ensuring that project substantiation sheet estimates mirror the Five Year Capital Plan. The Capital Estimates should also consistently show capital costs, expected recoveries and additional ongoing O & M costs and unit performance measures such as construction costs per square foot. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.