Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Handley.
Debates of Nov. 15th, 2000
This is page numbers 891 - 942 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 3rd 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 chairman.
Topics
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 940
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 940
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 940
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 940
Voytilla
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The government determined that it could take advantage of some high speed fibre-optic work in the community between our buildings, so what we did was put an RFP out there for bid. We received a couple of bids. This $480,000 is for the equipment that goes on each side of the fibre-optic network, to take advantage of it.
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 940
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 940
Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Was this equipment something that was included in the responses of all of the firms or the two that I know responded? Was this equipment included in that RFP or was this in addition to the RFP?
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 940
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 940
Voytilla
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This was not part of the RFP. This is the additional equipment the government requires to take advantage of and use the actual fibre-optic network that runs between the buildings in Yellowknife. The RFP that was issued was just for the fibre-optic lines themselves plus some switching equipment.
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was given to understand that the proposal put forward by NTNet would have included everything the government needed. I am surprised to hear that this was something that was needed in addition to what was provided or asked for in the RFP.
Would it be possible for me to get an explicit list of exactly what this $480,000 is paying for?
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Voytilla
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we can certainly provide the Member with the detailed information he is seeking, but our information is that the equipment that will be funded by this $480,000 was not part of the RFP. The RFP was just for the lines and some switching equipment that would be part of the network put in place by the proponent.
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Can you tell me, is the fibre-optic network in operation right now?
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Voytilla
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, my understanding is that the system is in place, however, I can certainly verify that and confirm that for the Member.
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With the information technology area growing so quickly, and it is really growing quickly in the Northwest Territories, I think it is incumbent on this government to make sure it supports as broad a base in this sector as possible.
I am very concerned that by having chosen one provider in this area that we may be in fact limiting the potential for private sector growth. With the government having adopted a fibre-optic network, have we said then that there can only be one supplier? For instance, if another supplier wanted to offer a fibre link to a department could they go to that department and make the offer to provide that link?
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Voytilla
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The fibre-optic system that has been put in place, that we are acquiring through this contractual arrangement is to service all of our needs in Yellowknife at this point in time. If there was growth in our requirements or there was an expansion of the buildings that we needed fibre-optic linkages to, that certainly might necessitate the use of more than the system than is currently part of the contract, so there is the potential.
I would also note that this, of course, is a contract for a finite period of time and at the end of that period we would expect that it would be out for tender again.
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you. The question I am looking to have answered is, for instance, if there is a building, pick a building, the Laing Building, Yellowknife Centre, any building that the government has offices in right now, if there are different departments on different floors in that building, there are two fibre-optic networks going by each of those floors.
Can the departments choose which network they will tie into?
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941
Voytilla
Mr. Chairman, technically, that would probably be possible but I do not know, from a cost standpoint, if it would be practical. As you can see from this supplementary, there is a significant investment required in the government's hardware and software requirements to fully utilize these systems. If that had to switch back and forth or if each department had to make those kinds of investments in the fibre-optic network, that might make it cost prohibitive.
I think that is of interest to the government. It probably would make more sense to keep it running on one system.
Committee Motion 37-14(3): To Defer Item Community Access Roads Under Department Of Transportation, Operations Expenditures, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2000-2001
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 941