Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to make it clear that my views on this particular expenditure are as an ordinary Member and not as the chairman of the standing committee on finance. I want to make it clear because I am frankly and completely, totally opposed to the $25 million Legislative Assembly building. I am amazed that this project is occurring at a time when government is telling us we cannot afford any of the basic needs of our citizens -housing, health and social services. My primary concern is the cost of this project to the government.
When a decision to construct this building was first made public on January 18, 1991, the cost of the construction of this building was estimated to be $12 million. The cost of construction is now estimated to be closer to $15 million.
Mr. Chairman, I realize that the actual construction costs for the building itself will be covered by the Legislative Assembly's bond issue. However, there are over $10 million in associated costs related to this project for furnishings, audio-visual equipment, landscaping, site preparation and construction of an access road. For whatever reason, and I am not about to speculate anybody's motives, I do not think this point was made clear, if made at all, at the time that this project was unveiled. Was the public told it was going to cost $22 million? I do not remember seeing it.
Rightly or wrongly, the perception exists among the general public that the cost to the government for this project would be minimal. I know the Minister of Finance knows my reaction when I was asked to review the $10 million additional expenditure.
The second concern I have is the sheer size of the new building. It is close to 50,000 square feet. We are currently using only 20,000 square feet at this location. I realize in my tiny little office that we are somewhat cramped in this location and that the new building will contain spaces for offices for cabinet and for a library. However, do we really need another 30,000 square feet, and at what cost?
To my knowledge the cabinet has not even committed to moving into the space on a permanent basis. Most ordinary Members, like myself, spend over half the year in our constituencies. A $25 million complex for a part-time Legislature? It is unbelievable.
We are told that if division does not occur, and we all hope it does, it may be necessary to build another phase -- I nearly had a heart attack when I heard that -- to accommodate the Members from the Eastern Arctic. An additional 50,000 square feet over and above the 50,000 square feet that we are building now to accommodate 24 Members. It reminds me of a comment made by the famous actor, Oscar Wilde, who said, "Nothing succeeds like excess."
My concern is: Are there any other hidden costs associated with this building? For example, not only will each Member and Executive Member have their own offices, but they have offices for assistants as well. As all Members are aware, there is currently an allowance for $20,000 available for Members to hire constituency staff. This allowance is not enough or sufficient to hire full-time staff in my constituency, let alone in Yellowknife. Are we going to increase the MLAs constituency allowances so we can have our executive assistants sifting in the office across to us? How many new employees will be needed to run this building? What are the heating and electrical costs for a large building? I would suggest that the operations and maintenance costs of the Legislative Assembly will increase dramatically when we move into this building.
I cannot in any consciousness support this appropriation. I cannot sincerely justify the expenditure of $10 million in direct costs for this project when there are people in my riding who do not have decent housing, have not got running water and have not got a damn job. There are too many other important priorities that we should be spending our money on.
There is a famous English playwright called Hector Hugh Monroe who said, "All decent people live beyond their incomes now adays and those who are not respectable live beyond other people's. A few gifted people manage to do both." I guess all of us are the gifted few in the Northwest Territories. I cannot, and I will not, support the $10 million expenditure for the Legislative Assembly building. Thank you.