The Member for Thebacha requested the total cost incurred in fiscal years 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-00 by all departments, boards and agencies, including housing authorities, education boards and health and social service boards, for the purchase of fuel, electricity and other energy.

I have provided to Members a breakdown of estimated expenditures for 1998-99 only. The expenditures total $33,043,970. It is expected that expenditures for 1997-98 and 1999-00 are comparable, although some variations may occur as a result of changes in asset inventories, price changes, weather conditions and energy management initiatives.

Purchasing, payment and accounting for energy and other utilities are the responsibility of individual departments, boards and agencies. Expenditure records are not maintained centrally. Precise numbers for each year and all agencies would require considerable resources to assemble.

The listing is based on actual expenditures recorded in the government's Financial Information System, and budget or formula information for those boards and agencies that do not use the Financial Information System. The figures in the table may not capture all costs since the government pays for some energy and utilities indirectly through contracts and leases. Tax-based communities are block funded and are also not included in the table.

The government also subsidizes fuel and water/sewer services. Consequently, these figures do not reflect the full cost of providing the services.

Return to Written Question 3-14(2) asked by Mr. Miltenberger to the Minister of Public Works and Services concerning capital costs.

The Member for Thebacha requested that the Minister of Public Works and Services identify all capital projects over $5,000 managed by the Department of Public Works and Services on behalf of the government in fiscal years 1997-98,1998-99, and 1999-00 to date. For each of the contracts, the Member requested the client department, initial project estimate budget, actual costs to date, projected additional costs to complete the project and the name of the primary contractor.

A copy of the 1997-98 Contract Report, the 1998-99 Contract Report and year-to-date listing of contracts for 1999-00 have been provided to the Member separately. The 1998-99 and 1999-00 reports identify the community, the project name, the month and year of award, the type of contract, the contractor to whom the contract was awarded, the local, northern or southern status of the contractor, the contract value at time of award, the planned year of completion, the type of tender or award, and the BIP status of the contractor. The information in the 1997-98 contract report is similar.

Information on cost estimates, project budgets and project costs is contained within project files and main estimate documents, which must be individually researched. Since it would be prohibitively expensive to research over 900 projects covered by the question, the department has limited the collection of budget and cost information to projects valued at over $1 million.

Return to Written Question 4-14(2) asked by Mr. Miltenberger to the Minister of Health and Social Services, concerning nurses' supplements.

The two-year temporary market supplement for nurses has two components: a recruitment portion and a retention portion. It also includes funding for three nurse educator consultants at the Health and Social Services board level to provide education, mentoring and orientation to nurses. The three positions are placed at the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Board, the Dogrib Community Services Board and the Deh Cho Health and Social Services Board, but also provide services to the other boards.

As of December 31, 1999, $946,989 has been disbursed to 269 nurses as follows:

Inuvik Regional HSS Board$248,250 to 78 nurses

Dogrib Community Services Board$22,500 to 7 nurses

Deh Cho HSS Board$42,000 to 11 nurses

Lutsel K'e HSS Board$4,500 to 2 nurses

Deninu HSS Board$10,000 to 2 nurses

Fort Smith HSS Board$47,800 to 11 nurses

Hay River Community Health Board$85,800 to 23 nurses

Stanton Regional Health Board$425,506 to 116 nurses

Yellowknife HSS Board$60,027 to 19 nurses

A total amount of $405,000 was budgeted for the employment and travel of the three nurse education consultants. These positions have only been filled recently and therefore no expenditures can be submitted at this point.

The remaining funds, $1.65 million, of the temporary market supplement will be used in the coming fiscal year.

The department and boards have not, and will not, retain any of the funding for administration or other uses during the two-year funding for the temporary market supplement.

Regarding the turnover of nurses, the department has data available for two years, 1998 and 1999. The turnover for each board is as follows:

Inuvik Regional HSS Board45.6% in 1998 and 58.8% in 1999

Dogrib Community Services Board35.7% in 1998 and 35.7% in 1999

Deh Cho HSS Board16.7% in 1998 and 33.8% in 1999

Lutsel K'e HSS Board100% in 1998 and 200% in 1999

Deninu HSS Board50.0% in 1998 and 0% in 1999

Fort Smith HSS Board40.0% in 1998 and 33.3% in 1999

Hay River Community Health Board22.2% in 1998 and 16.7% in 1999

Stanton Regional Health Board20.2% in 1998 and 28.3% in 1999

Yellowknife HSS Board0% in each year

In reviewing these numbers, it is important to note that the two boards with the highest turnover, Lutsel K'e and Deninu, each only have two nursing positions.

Return to Written Question 6-14(2) asked by Mr. Miltenberger to the Minister of Transportation.

On February 28, 2000, the Member for Thebacha submitted a written question asking me to give the initial project estimate, actual costs to date, projected costs to completion and the primary contractor for all of the Department of Transportation's capital projects over $5,000 for the fiscal years 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 to date.

Although the Member's written question might seem clear and direct enough, in actual fact, the answer to the question is much more complicated than it appears.

The total cost of a capital project includes the department's in-house direct expenditures, plus a series of separately tendered contracts for the consulting, design, material and equipment supply and construction phases of the project. Each of these contracts has its own estimated and award amounts. From initial planning and design to final construction and warranty work, capital projects routinely span several fiscal years from start to finish.

I have provided the Member with a summary of 16 capital projects, valued at more than $500,000, that the Department of Transportation delivered during the three specified fiscal years.

Thirteen departmental staff were involved in compiling the data for this summary for an estimated total of 60 person-hours or eight person-days. Compiling the data for all capital expenditures greater than $5,000 over the period of three fiscal years would have required a formidable and lengthy deployment of departmental resources.

Under separate cover, the department will provide the Member with its annual Contract Report for the three fiscal years 1997-98, 1999-99 and 1999-2000 to date.

If the Member wishes to inquire about specific capital projects, I will be pleased to answer them.

A provisional return to Written Question 7-14(2) asked by Mr. Miltenberger to the Minister of Health and Social Services on board funding.

On February 28, 2000, the Member for Thebacha, in Written Question 7-14(2), asked a series of questions regarding board funding. Because of the amount and detail of information requested, the department is still conducting the analysis for which we will require an additional two weeks. The information will be available by April 3, 2000.

Return to Written Question 8-14(2) asked by Mr. Krutko to the Minister of Health and Social Services concerning THMs in Fort McPherson's drinking water.

I am pleased to respond to questions regarding trihalomethanes (THMs) in Fort McPherson's drinking water.

1. Availability of necessary preventative technologies for early detection of cancers

Screening against cancer is a core program of the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Board. All NWT residents have access to necessary preventative technologies for the early detection of cancers.

In Fort McPherson, well woman and well man clinics are held weekly to enable people to come for regular check-ups. In addition, the community health representative calls people on their birthday to come in for a check-up. If any problem at all is identified, the nurse offers to do a clinical examination or refer the person to the doctor, who visits monthly, if this could help them feel more comfortable. If a problem is identified in the nurse's examination, the patient will be referred to the doctor or sent to Inuvik for further investigation.

Every effort is made to ensure that opportunities are available to residents to help them monitor their health.

2. Provide residents with guidelines for effective use of BRITA water tilters

Environmental Health staff of the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Board prepared guidelines for home treatment of drinking water, including the use of BRITA water filters. These guidelines were provided to all residents who were issued a BRITA water filter by the hamlet office. In addition, the BRITA filter system and replacement filters come with instructions on the effective use of this particular filter system.