Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me Mr. Lew Voytilla, secretary to the Financial Management Board. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Department Of Education, Culture And Employment

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yesterday, when we concluded, I was trying to get your attention but you recognized the honourable Member who called progress. I wasn't concluded with this department, especially the educational development section. If I may, Mr. Chairman, I would like to get to it.

This is concerning an item which states: "To reduce funding in the Fort Simpson Bompas elementary school project to finance the GNWT's share of costs associated with the Canada/NWT infrastructure agreement." The funding for this elementary school in Fort Simpson has been reduced by $103,000. I wanted to ask a couple of questions about that.

Mr. Chairman, this elementary school has been totally renovated and the project is still ongoing. It is not known at the present time what the complete costs of the project are yet because they are still working on it. While construction is still going on, $103,000 has been eliminated from the total project. I was wondering why that happened. Usually when a project is completed and there is a surplus left over, that's what is used to carry over to other projects and so forth. This project is still going on, yet a substantial amount of funding has been reduced. I was wondering if the Minister could give me some information on that: how much the total project is at the present time; how much money is left to complete the project; and, why was $103,000 taken away from a project that's not completed yet? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, we were advised by the Department of Education that favourable tender results would allow them to reduce renovation estimates to Bompas elementary school in Fort Simpson by $103,000. The department had some favourable tender results which, we understand, won't affect the scope of the work, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A certain amount of funding was approved for the project. I'm concerned because it's in my constituency and I want to make sure that a project such as an elementary school is done properly and does not suffer because of a shortage of funding. As we all know, when a project is under way, unforseen problems crop up from time to time and there are cost overruns. I'm concerned that by withdrawing this funding because of favourable tenders, they might have a problems acquiring $103,000 from another source if they do run into problems and they need to recall the original budgeted amount. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I would ask the Minister of Education to deal with that question, please. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The project, itself, will not suffer. In fact, all the requirements for the programming -- in other words, all the programming and design requests in the project -- are part of the tender that came in. As a result, the contractor's estimate was $103,000 less than what had been projected for the contract. The responsibility for any changes or costs more than proposed -- in other words, where we didn't make changes -- is the responsibility of the contractor. The program designs were $103,000 less than voted in the budget. If we have a problem with regard to our programming and ask for more, then we would obviously have to come up with the resources to respond to that but, other than that, everything that has been requested so far is part of the contract.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This elementary school project is under construction right now and the Thomas Simpson school, which is not part of this project, is a separate project starting renovations as well. There was a request by the community education council of the Minister to see if the excess funds could be used by the other school so the Thomas Simpson school could be renovated in a proper way. I know the Minister has received a letter requesting that from the community education council and I wonder why the $103,000 wasn't granted to the other project. Thank you.

Thank you. Just so everything is clear, the money that we vote in our capital budgets is basically a snapshot of the assessments of what it would generally cost for a project. They're not the dollars that may end up being spent for a project. Some could be less and some could be more, depending on the changes or program being requested for that project. Even if we were to make changes to the other project, we would still have to come back to Cabinet if additional dollars were required for expansion to the other project. We can't simply take project dollars and move them over to another project without having to come back to FMB for a change in that other school. Regardless of whether it is from the same community, we have to come back and get the changes appropriately voted by FMB.

I understand the request that has been made, but it is not simply a matter of moving money back and forth. We still have to review the program requirements of the additional renovations going on.

Thank you. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance, on page 32 there is a line that indicates that the total GNWT share for 1994-95 is $500,000. What is that referring to? It's a line by itself. Is it making reference to the Canada/NWT infrastructure agreement? What is it?

The Minister can answer but just very quickly, it is the infrastructure program that we're talking about.

(Microphone turned off)...that was reduced from the Fort Simpson Bompas elementary school project because the contractor bid was favourable for that amount less than was allocated. So this $103,000 then goes into the Canada/NWT infrastructure agreement for 1994-95 and the total amount was $500,000. Is that correct?

Mr. Chairman, our share in this particular fiscal year, 1994-95, was $500,000. That is correct. You'll note throughout the supplementary appropriation there were capital dollars where they were free in other projects, they were taken and put towards our $500,000 share. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.