Oral questions. Mr. Ootes.

The Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government has a variety of office spaces leased in Yellowknife. There are a number of different places where we have offices. After the lease extension was negotiated for Lahm Ridge Tower, we come in about fourth lowest in the total per square footage. In that case, there are a number of other leases we currently hold that are substantially higher per square foot cost than the Lahm Ridge Tower. In that way, it is quite a good deal for the government. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Ootes.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have quite a number of leases. I am not quite familiar with how many leases we have out there including our own space. The information I have is, if you compare the cost per square foot for the Lahm Ridge renegotiated deal, it comes in about third lowest. I could render a guess right now, but I would like to be more specific. I will have to ask my department to come back with the actual number of leases, or spaces we have out there. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Ootes.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the average cost of square footage, I could guess right now, but again, I have to be more specific on that and get back to the honourable Member with the exact cost per square foot. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Ootes.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Lahm Ridge Tower issue is something that I have been dealing with for quite some time now. As you can see, my file is pretty thick and every time questions come up, I have to go through it and try to find the correct answer. If we go back on earlier questions first to clarify, the Lahm Ridge Tower lease, is one of the 12 major leases in Yellowknife. I have to correct myself here. I said it is about fourth lowest, but there are two other leases that are less expensive than Lahm Ridge Tower, so it is the third lowest.

--Applause

There are eight other leases which are more expensive than Lahm Ridge Tower. This lease is eight percent below the average lease rate in our Yellowknife inventory. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Krutko.

The Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the honourable Member is talking about the Lahm Ridge Tower. I have to explain again. The government has never owned the Lahm Ridge Tower. It was owned by the Lahm Ridge Investment Company. A private owner and they sold it to another company. A northern company. In regard to the Laing Building, I am aware that the Denedeh Development Corporation did meet with some officials of Public Works and Services for preliminary discussions to see what the possibilities are there to purchase the Laing Building. That was some time last year. In the mean time this government was looking at the office space requirement for this government after the downsizing and consolidation of the different departments took place starting last January, 1997. It was clear by last July which office space and how much office space was required in Yellowknife to run this government. These meetings with the Denedeh Development Corporation were around that same time. There was no definite commitment by anybody to sell at that time, it was part of a plan, one of the options, and that option did not get approved until this January. I just wanted to explain some background here that the Laing Building is up for sale and if the Denedeh Development Corporation is interested, the decision was made as of last month to go ahead and sell it. If they are still interested, now is the time to get involved in the whole process of trying to acquire it. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Lahm Ridge Tower was a renegotiated lease. There was an outstanding lease there with the previous owners. The exercise initiated the discussion to renew that lease. The landowners wanted to know whether we could renegotiate an extension of the Lahm Ridge Tower lease. This is where the Department of Public Works exercises the lease agreement. That is why this was done. As for the Denedeh Development Corporation they do not have any office space in Yellowknife. They have to acquire it first before they lease it to the government. Their offer to lease it back to the government at $8 a square foot, I am not aware about it. I am not aware that

they were told that there would no longer be long-term leases. I am not familiar with these discussions that happened in the past. Thank you.