This is page numbers 357 - 395 of the Hansard for the 13th Assembly, 7th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was highway.

Topics

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 375

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Rattray. General comments. Mr. Morin.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Don Morin Tu Nedhe

Thank you. There are many different types of communities in the western Arctic. There are those that are on the road and those that are off the road. There are also those that have winter roads and some of the communities are fairly isolated with barge service once a year. For example, the community I represent, Lutselk'e, gets a barge once a year through NTCL. The level of the maintenance person in there, the mechanic does an excellent job on the equipment to keep it up and running, but it is a very isolated community. Is their equipment replaced at a faster rate than, for example, an on-road or a community that does have winter road services, as well as barge service because when something breaks it is very expensive to fix? Is there a formula that you use or how do you say, okay that equipment in Lutselk'e should be replaced in many less hours than, for example, in Fort Resolution or a community on the road?

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 375

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Morin. Mr. Minister.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Vince Steen

Vince Steen Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Perhaps if we could redirect the question to Mr. Rattray.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 375

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Rattray.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Rattray

Mr. Chairman, we essentially apply the same standards to all the communities with respect to equipment. While there are guidelines to tell us approximately when it would require replacement, ultimately the decision is based on the condition of that particular piece and an evaluation of that particular piece of equipment. The guidelines we use tell us approximately how many hours of use on a piece of equipment gives us a guideline in terms of the amount we are prepared to spend on repairs for a piece of equipment of a certain age, but it is a general policy across all of the communities. Certainly on a small community in an isolated location that does not have backup equipment, we would be judging that particular case somewhat differently than a community that had easy access and where it was relatively easy to get in and get a mechanic and get parts in to do repairs.

In general, the standard or the guideline that we follow is, it really is a guideline, it is to help us forecast when equipment is likely to require repair. I know from my previous experience with Transportation that, in fact, we have done trades on equipment from community to community. If it looks like a piece of equipment still had useful life in it, but it was likely to require a higher level of repair, then we would move it some place where we had better support. It does not happen often because of the difficulties of moving large pieces of equipment around the territories, but certainly we have made some arrangements in the past where it seemed to make sense in that particular instance.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 375

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Rattray. General comments. Mr. Ootes.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jake Ootes

Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Minister made reference in his opening remarks to the work that is being undertaken under service agreements with Nunavut. I wonder if the Minister could give us clarification of the extra positions that we have on staff in relationship to how those will be handled over the next year and over the next two years? My concern, Mr. Chairman, lies in the area of layoffs or downsizing. I wonder if the Minister could address that, or his officials?

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 376

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Minister.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 376

Vince Steen

Vince Steen Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Rattray is probably more familiar with that particular question than I am, so I will ask Mr. Rattray to respond.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 376

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Rattray.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Rattray

Mr. Chairman, we are carrying a few more positions than we originally forecasted in our division plan. I would say the number is probably ten to 12 right now. We started out as a headquarters department with probably 20 some odd positions more than what we intended to go on with post-division. Some of these now, the numbers have been reduced largely because of moving individuals into new positions or some people have left the government and moved on into other positions themselves. We are down to about probably ten or 12 positions in the department as a whole. These positions are not a problem to us at the present time because, for the most part, we are still providing a significant number of services to Nunavut and are recovering the cost for carrying those positions from those service agreements. We are anticipating that, certainly for the next year, carrying the additional positions is not a problem for us.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 376

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Rattray. Mr. Ootes.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jake Ootes

Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre

Thank you. Is it anticipated then, that in a year or two, those positions may have to be eliminated?

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 376

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Rattray.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Rattray

Mr. Chairman, again our strategy in terms of dealing with these positions is, wherever possible, to allow individuals a good opportunity to transfer into vacant positions that will be required on an ongoing basis. We still have some expectation that some additional positions we will be able to accommodate within the future organization. In addition, we do anticipate that over the next couple of years some additional individuals will leave the department for one reason or another, either to take up positions in other departments or to move elsewhere. That is kind of a natural development in the organization. My guess is, at the end of the day if we have some positions to deal with there may be one or two, but it is not going to be a significant issue for us.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 376

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Rattray. Mr. Ootes.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jake Ootes

Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Could we get some idea of the revenue that may be generated? I understand that computer services will be provided to Nunavut and there may be a charge back on that. Could the Minister indicate to us the kind of revenues we are anticipating from that?

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 376

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Minister.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 376

Vince Steen

Vince Steen Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will direct that to Mr. Rattray.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Rattray

Mr. Chairman, when we get into the detail of the budget a little bit later, there is a line item dealing with charge backs from Nunavut. Our best guess is that is a little underestimated for the coming year. In our discussions with the Nunavut Department of Public Works, Telecommunications and Technical Services, I think they underestimated the difficulties they were going to have in terms of trying to provide a full range of services, so my guess is that the figures we are quoted in the budget detail will be somewhat low and that we will actually recover some additional revenues in addition to that.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 376

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Rattray. Could you identify where in the budget that item will come up?

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Rattray

Mr. Chairman, that would be on page 31 of the department's budget, 5-31. Excuse me that is an error. I am corrected, it is page 5-30.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Rattray. Mr. Ootes, maybe you could ask the question when we come to that item.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jake Ootes

Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre

Yes, I am pleased to know that is where to address my question, so I appreciate that. On another matter I have asked questions about in the House. I wonder if I could get an update from the Minister as to when he may have available a report on the Yellowknife Office Space Rationalization Plan?