Page 8, Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, total economic development capital, $3,139,000. Agreed?

With that, I would like to thank the Minister and his witnesses. Thank you. Does the committee agree that we continue on with the Department of Transportation?

At this time, I would like to ask the Minister responsible for Transportation if he has any opening comments.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will proceed with my opening comments.

Mr. Chairman, this afternoon the committee of the whole is reviewing the 2000-2001 interim appropriation for the Department of Transportation. The proposed appropriation for the department includes an operations and maintenance component of $22.2 million with a capital component of $17.7 million. Altogether, the department's requested appropriation for the first four months of the 2000-2001 fiscal year is $39.9 million.

The proposed appropriation is based on the department's adjusted budget from the 1999-2000 fiscal year projected for the first four months of the new fiscal year. The budget target assumes that the department's operational requirements for 2000-2001 will remain the same with no significant changes in program expenditures between years.

Mr. Chairman, the Members will notice that the Department of Transportation's proposed appropriation amounts to the better part of its expected total appropriation for the 2000-2001 fiscal year. This is because of the extent to which the operations for our airports, ferries and highways are carried out under contract with municipal government and private contractors. The department's contractual obligations must be committed from the start of the fiscal year.

Secondly, with our short construction season, the department must get started on the capital projects it intends to deliver within the first four months of the 2000-2001 fiscal year. The department cannot award new contracts without this Assembly first having made the necessary appropriations.

This interim appropriation will allow the Department of Transportation to get on with its day-to-day business of running the territorial transportation system.

Mr. Chairman, I have been pleased with the questions that Members from every part of the Northwest Territories have asked me in the House about the Department of Transportation's highway maintenance and reconstruction programs. It is clear the Members know just how important the transportation system is for our economy, our businesses, our communities, our constituents and our families.

The Department of Transportation's expenditures included in this interim appropriation will benefit almost everyone in the Northwest Territories one way or another. I am sure the Members will agree that these expenditures are necessary and worthwhile. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Are there any general comments from the committee which oversees the Department? Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee met with the Minister and his staff on March 17, 2000, to review the proposed 2000-2001 Interim Appropriation for the department. The committee made note of the following issues.

Committee members were concerned with the traffic volumes on the Northwest Territories highway systems, especially the Liard and Highway No. 3., where there may be increased volume resulting from increased oil and gas, and diamond mine development respectively. Committee members were also concerned with traffic volumes for the near to mid term.

The Minister agreed to provide the committee with a report on traffic volumes, including forecasts for all Northwest Territories highway systems.

Committee members questioned why contracts for Highway No. 3 were not scheduled to be awarded until July.

The Minister replied that the highway is a design-build project, and as such represent significant savings over previous approaches, as design faults rest exclusively with the builder.

Committee members had discussions with the Minister about various highway development options. One of those options discussed was a highway be built alongside the proposed pipeline. A parallel highway would not only provide transportation links for communities near the pipeline, but also represents improved access to resources and value for money.

Further, the committee informed the government that many aboriginal groups would not support a pipeline without the proposed parallel highway.

The committee asked the department if it had a comprehensive strategy to improve our highway systems that will result in increased access for remote communities and to resources such as those in the Slave Lake geologic region.

The Minister, at the request of the committee, agreed to provide a summary report of the Government's Highway Strategy report to members.

Funding for Community Access Roads and Other Projects

Committee members were concerned with the lack of funding for community access road projects. Members noted that some communities receive funding whereas some do not. Members recommended that if funding cuts are to be made, they should be made equally amongst all regions and communities, not just specific areas or municipalities. See page 4, capital, departmental submission, Department of Transportation, 2000-2001 Interim Appropriation.

Additionally, committee Members added that projects such as community access roads are especially important to small communities. In many communities, these small capital projects are the only available employment opportunities for the entire year.

The committee recommended that if funding cuts are considered in any programs or services within government, they should be made equally "across the board".

Finally, the committee submitted a list of capital projects described in the proposed interim appropriation that had funding discrepancies with their funding allocations as listed in the 2000-2001 five-year capital plan to the department for further explanation prior to consideration of the proposed 2000-2001 interim appropriation in the House. The Minister agreed. See page 1-5, capital, departmental submissions, Department of Transportation, 2000-2001 Interim Appropriation.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. At this time, I would like to ask the Minister if he would like to call any witnesses?

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Does the committee agree that the Minister will bring in his witnesses?

Sergeant-At-Arms, would you escort the witnesses in please?

Would the Minister introduce his witnesses for the record?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, on my right is Ms. Lynn Cook, director of finance. On my left is Mr. Peter Vician, deputy minister, Transportation.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Welcome, witnesses. General comments or questions for the Minister? Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I stated earlier in reading the committee's report, we were expecting some information on the differences that were in the capital plan. I did not receive a package. I do not know if it has been delivered to the committee or committee members. I am unaware of it at this time. It is unfortunate.

It means that we are going to have go with a little more detail as we discuss the capital situation. But Members in general know that the Department of Transportation is a vital part of our government in the network that it provides throughout the Northwest Territories, when it comes to marine, air and road transportation.

The concerns that were shared in a number of areas, and we heard it in the House on a number of occasions, was trying to balance out volume-based formula with a need to make sure that the Northwest Territories as a whole remains strong and that we can build a strong territory together.

Needless to say, there was much discussion in the committee. Hopefully, we will be able to go through this department and see what important areas and initiatives are being undertaken. I am sure that the department will listen with interest when it comes to the highway and the Mackenzie Valley pipeline being built together. There has been discussion by the aboriginal groups that they would like to see this happen.

We know if we look at the highway system purely as a capital project, that the Mackenzie Valley Highway is estimated at the $700 million figure. That is our whole budget as the GNWT, and would not be accepted in a sense of a large scale project to be done in a short number of years.

Instead, Mr. Chairman, I think the door has been opened. We should at least investigate and see if we can start something on a small scale, maybe bring some private sector partners into this and then truly build a linkage north to south and east to west, as they say.

As well as opening the doors to tourism and remote communities, it would also open the doors to the resource potential that lies within many of the lands that are taken up by the land claim organizations, as well as those still available to the government overall.

There has been a bit of concern, and hopefully the department will address some of the concerns the committee raised as we go through the capital plan, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Member refers to the discrepancies between the two capital plans that the committee has versus the one the department has. We did have a list of discrepancies and I have been advised that there is a breakdown of them, which I can supply to the Members. I do not mind listing them here.

I have identified 11 projects with a carry over or increased number of projects. There were nine projects which were deferred, and there were four which were completely deleted. We reduced seven projects and we re-profiled two new projects. In the carryover increase, there were eight projects with specifically increased expenditures, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, in regard to a reference of volume that the Member is referring to, I believe the Premier has pointed out that the department uses volumes only in reference to traffic volume. We are not referring to volumes of people or populations in the regions.

We are suggesting that our expenditures are based on volumes of traffic in particular highways and in particular regions. That translates into the amount of expenditures we would have to identify in order to maintain the highways, or to reconstruct the highways. That is the only reference I have regarding volumes. It refers to volume of traffic.

As far as the road down the Mackenzie, the department has identified in the interim $100,000 towards new road planning studies. Included in those planning studies would be the finalization for the reports for the Northwest Territories Highways Strategy, and how we intend to involve the communities and the federal government on the highway down the Mackenzie Valley. There would also be some study work done on the road into the Slave Geological Area.

Mr. Chairman, I hope that if the Members have specific questions as to which projects you want deferred or deleted, we can supply them with that information here as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. That would be helpful if we can get a copy of that and circulate it to the Members. It may make the process smoother if we have the information in front of us. Just a reminder to the Members as well to speak up when you are making a presentation. A few people are finding it hard to hear. General comments or questions for the Minister? Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just following up on the volume aspect of dedicating funding to different areas. The Minister said, and also committed to providing, the reports on the traffic volumes over all highways. That alone goes to show that the larger centres are going to have higher volume over the road system. The fact is the larger places are going to have higher numbers. If there is development, the numbers are going to go up even higher.

When we discussed Highway No. 3 and the amount going into it as well, we know what is needed. We know there has been some work with the federal government on the transportation initiative, which would connect all capital cities of all the regions, and some dollars are being looked at to try and upgrade those systems. It would be nice to know where that information has gone and how much money might be available to this government, so hopefully if there are more dollars made available by the federal government, we can take some of the other dollars being spent now and spread them throughout the Territories to try and make those linkages possible, from north to south. Thank you.