Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have been reading this over and over again, I am not sure what it says. Does it say, in order to avoid the extra removal costs we are buying furniture to furnish 53 staff housing units, to avoid paying over $1,143, just in case we have to remove all of these furnishings owned by staff members who are moving out of the territories. Is that what we are trying to say here?

Mr. Chairman, the Department of Public Works has ascertained that it is cheaper to provide the furniture to these housing units than it is to bring peoples furniture in and out. The Standing Committee on Finance asked for an example and I have the example. I believe it is being delivered to the committee. We chose the example of off-highway Baffin Island, the average length of stay is 2.5 years, the average excludes employees not entitled to relocation or local hires. The figure I am going to give you is in 1992 dollars. It is furnished accommodation over ten years. The cost of furnishing the unit, $12,844, the cost of removal of personal effects, $26,474, for a total of $39,318. As a note the furniture is shipped by sea lift and I believe the cost of that, Mr. Chairman, is 14 cents a pound. The cost of removal is based on the actual average cost, $3,782, $1.23 per pound by air multiplied by seven. Over the ten year period there would be four incoming moves and three outgoing, assuming the unit is allocated at all times.

Mr. Chairman, I will provide this in written form. If you look at unfurnished accommodation the weight entitlement for removal into unfurnished accommodation is 15,000 pounds. The average weight per move to a three bedroom unit is approximately 9,000. The cost of removal would be $130,123 and the cost of removal at $18,589 is based on the weight of the average move at air cargo rates of $1.23 per pound multiplying this by seven moves results in a conservative estimate of $130,000 over the ten year period. The department is estimating that for one housing unit it would cost $9,000 per year or $90,000 over the ten years if the housing were unfurnished, off the highway system. As I have said, Mr. Chairman, I will provide more details to the committee. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I take it the answer to my question is yes. Furniture removal after termination of employment is included in the collective agreement for a person who is hired from outside of the community.

Mr. Chairman, yes it is in the collective agreement.

We have just gone through a fairly lengthy issue related to the new staff housing strategy where one of the intents of the new strategy is to get out of staff housing, and get out of providing housing with furnishings, and anything related to it. We are now spending money to buy furnishings for housing. This seem like a bit of an anomaly that on the one hand we are approving a new strategy and on the other hand we seem to support the status quo. I understand the economics of what we are doing, so I will support this one time expenditure only.

Mr. Chairman, I see what the Member is getting at. Obviously, I am concerned about that too. Mr. Chairman, the housing strategy will still go ahead. Houses will be offered for sale, and where those houses are furnished then DPW has plans to attempt to sell the furniture along with the house. I would imagine that would be at an extra cost, Mr. Chairman. It will still fit into the housing strategy, but we will be selling a house with a future as opposed to a house that is vacant without a future. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. These are one time expenditures, I hope, once you furnish all these houses that is it, correct?

Mr. Chairman, one time expenditures and according to the documents received from the Department of Public Works, they anticipate the furniture lasting at least ten years. It is a ten year expenditure and certainly will not be going on each year.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. What happens in a case where the employee brought his or her own furniture and moved to a government staff house? Sometimes, freight costs more than the item. I wonder if the government ever considered actually buying the furniture before the employee moved south from the isolated community. The cost of freight is very substantial in the north. Sometimes it costs more for the freight to actually bring in the item. Does the government ever consider buying the furniture before the employee moves south, before the employee is removed? Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I will certainly pass that on to the Minister of Personnel and the Minister of Public Works. It is a good idea. Whether they are using that idea at the present time I do not know, but certainly I will pass that on to them. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Agreed.

---Agreed

Department Of Government Services And Public Works