Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Finance reviewed Bill 17, Loan Authorization Act, 1994-95, on March 21, 1994. Members discussed the bill and agreed it should move into committee of the whole for discussion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thanks, Mr. Antoine. General comments on this bill. Mr. Antoine.

General Comments

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. In this act we know that the government will be authorized to loan $7 million to municipalities and $1 million to boards of education. This is down from $8 million in the 1993-94 act, and $9 million in the 1992-93 act. I would just like to ask the Minister a question of how much has been loaned by the government to municipalities in the last two years?

Do you have that information, Mr. Pollard?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In 1993-94, we loaned Fort Smith $335,000, Hay River $1.2 million, Norman Wells $250,000, Yellowknife $5.136 million, for a total of $6.921 million. That was the amount that we had up to date, March 15, 1994.

In 1992-93, we loaned Fort Simpson $67,000 and change, Fort Smith $388,000, Hay River $1.54 million, Yellowknife $2.5 million, for a total of $4.495 million in 1992-93. Over the last two years some $11.3 million, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Pollard. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you. In this act, for the first time the government is planning to loan up to $1 million to boards of education. I believe this has not been done before. In section 4, does the term "boards of education" refer to just the two Yellowknife boards of education or does it also includes the divisional boards of education? Thank you.

Mr. Pollard.

It applies to just the Yellowknife boards, Mr. Chairman.,

Thank you, Mr. Pollard. Mr. Antoine.

Has this section in the act been introduced for anticipation of future needs by the board, or is it because of a specific loan to a specific board at this time?

Thank you. Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Chairman, it's not the first time that the government has loaned one of the boards in Yellowknife money. The last time was in 1973. It's something that has been done before, and it may occur in the future. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Pollard. General comments. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Maybe the Minister could explain section 4. Is the section that is in place, is it for a specific loan to a special board at this time, or is this act being introduced for anticipation of future needs? Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Antoine. Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Chairman, this loan is to Yellowknife Education District No. 2, $1 million, and it's for their new high school. I think Mr. Antoine is referring to the fact that it's specific in this act that boards of education must not exceed $1 million. Is that the question under section 4?

Will you confirm that, Mr. Antoine, please?

Yes, Mr. Chairman. I think the Minister had already answered that question. We're just wondering what is the purpose of this. Was it specifically for a specific board at this time, or is it for future anticipation? Are we going to see more of this in the future, or is it for this time period alone? Thank you.

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Chairman, I understand now. I apologize to the Member for being so dumb. Mr. Chairman, yes, it is new in the act. It was done to be able to loan to boards of education. We had an application from a board of education. It had been done some 20 years ago, so it was included in the act to be able to make this particular loan. You see it specified in there this year at $1 million. But it does not preclude another board in Yellowknife coming to us and asking for the same kind of assistance in future years. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Shall we go clause by clause? Mr. Ballantyne.

Just a comment, this $1 million is a result of negotiations with the Department of Education for the new Catholic school. The negotiations, I thought, were very, very reasonable. The Catholic school board acknowledged the fact that the territorial government wouldn't have the full funds for the school and they thought they should make a contribution themselves. They made this $1 million contribution which, I might tell Members, will be paid for by the taxpayers of Yellowknife. One-third of my tax bill, as a resident of Yellowknife, goes toward the school boards. We'll end up paying for that $1 million over the next period of years. Thank you, very much, Mr. Chairman.

Are we finished with general comments?