Sergeant-at-Arms, could you escort the witnesses in? Mr. Minister, for the record, could you please introduce your witness?

Mr. Chairman, with me is Lew Voytilla, secretary to Financial Management Board. Thank you.

Welcome, Mr. Voytilla. I believe we are on the Executive, operations expenditures, Financial Management Board Secretariat, directorate, special warrant for $1 million. Any comments? Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe when we had recognized the clock yesterday and interrupted our discussion, the remarks directed at this particular item were quite critical. There are aspects of that I think are warranted. I would like to go on the record, Mr. Chairman, as speaking very strongly in favour of the initiative. I think it is one of those areas, one of those opportunities that comes along in the big picture and in the government's mandate to see when the timing is right, to see when the appetite is there, for a good, strong presentation and an aggressive presentation on a given issue. The potential that we have for hydro development in many sectors of the NWT is, I believe, one of the most promising, one of the most sustaining ventures that we could undertake in this Territory. This is something that I think will have a legacy that can last for decades.

I am speaking in favour and in support of this expenditure, this special warrant. The timing was right. We received some information from Mr. Voytilla yesterday that indicated who was brought into the picture here. With only a couple of exceptions here, who I do not know, I did have the opportunity, the experience and I would say the privilege of working with many of the people who are on this team when I was employed with the Power Corporation in the mid-1990's, Mr. Chairman.

This is a good group of people that was brought in in a hurry, but again, in recognition by the government that the timing and the appetite was right.

Mr. Chairman, there is one aspect which a number of my colleagues reflected on related to this and that is that of sole-sourced contracting without much recognition for what might be here in the NWT. While a number of aspects of this work was, I will certainly agree, quite specialized, I would very much like to leave a comment for the record that even where there are issues that can be deemed to be really exclusive and really specialized, that it is incumbent on government to make some kind of effort to bring in northern people, northern contractors -- perhaps in partnership or as associates -- so that we can transfer that knowledge and that skill and start building our own base of expertise here in the NWT.

This is the main criticism that I have of this particular area but I think in relation to the timing and the opportunity, this particular expenditure does merit support. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Minister, do you want to respond?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Only to say that I hear what the Member and other Members are saying. The message is clear and I appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you. Directorate, special warrant, $1 million. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I have a question to the Minister as to whether or not he is planning any more expenditures in the coming years on NWT hydro initiatives?

Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, yes, we have included money in the business plan for continuation of this project. Thank you.

Ms. Lee.

Could he indicate to us as to how much he has allocated for those? Thank you.

The Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, that is a matter that is before the committee. We have gone through business plans. It is going into our main estimates for next year and it has to be considered, I think, outside of this forum. Thank you.

Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, under this item, it indicates that out of the million dollars, $100,000 is allocated for travelling consultation, another $100,000 for publications and materials, and another $800,000 for research. Could the Minister indicate whether or not his future spending in this area will be in a similar fashion?

Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, I would not be able to say at all that the future spending is going to be broken out exactly this way. I think there has been some advice from Members given to us about how we handle all of the energy initiatives, including hydro. That has to be taken into consideration. We also have to look at where we are at the end of this fiscal year with the results that we have found from the consultations that we have had. No, I would not want to say that it is going to be broken out this way at all. I think it is too early for that. Thank you.

Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I understand the Minister is listening to Members on this issue and other spending measures in this supp, and probably coming business plans and so on. I would like to register my grave concern about the way in which this was introduced. I do not believe - in fact, maybe I should ask the Minister as to why a special warrant was warranted for a million dollars. What was the nature of the urgency with this million dollar spending? Thank you.

The Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Following the electrical generation study, it was very clear that hydro development figured in as a major piece of our overall fiscal strategy for our government. Before we proceeded very far along that route, we wanted to consult with aboriginal leaders and with aboriginal people. We wanted to have the base work done before we did that so we could give a clear message.

The best opportunity to do it is at the general assembles. There was a need to move ahead with this during the summer when the assemblies are meeting or else have a prolonged process and delay and probably a much more expensive initial consultation if we did not get to the assemblies. There was a matter of urgency in our view and a need to move ahead with this, given the larger North American energy crisis that this continent is facing. Thank you.

Ms. Lee.