The mandate of the Minister and the Department of Transportation is to plan, design, construct or reconstruct, acquire, operate and maintain public transportation infrastructure in the Northwest Territories. Public infrastructure includes community airports, docks and the highway system, pursuant to the devolved authorities and/or memoranda of understanding between the Government of the Northwest Territories and the federal government. The department is also responsible for the regulation and licensing of vehicles and individuals operating vehicles in the Northwest Territories. To fulfil their responsibilities, the department is organized into the following ongoing activities; corporate services, ferries, highways, airports, motor vehicles, community access roads, and community marine.
The Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development met with the Minister of the Department of Transportation and his staff on Wednesday, January 24, 2001, to review the department's 2001-2002 main estimates.
The committee noted a $2,135,000 increase in operations expense from the department's 2001-2004 business plan. This variance can be attributed to an upward adjustment in the department's amortization estimates of $996,000 and an increase in compensation and benefits of $1,139,000 arising from the recent UNW collective agreement. Upon further examination, Mr. Chairman, the committee reports an $11,496,000 increase in the department's capital acquisition plan from their business plan. Revenue projections have increased by $129,000. The increase is for work done on behalf of Transport Canada for monitoring and enforcement of standards under the National Safety Code with respect to commercial motor vehicles. The department's revenues already include most fees proposed by the department under the program and functional review. Fee increases have been made for motor vehicle licenses, registration and other fees, airport landing fees, and airport leases/rental. There were no proposed changes to the Department of Transportation's human resources from the 2001-2004 business plan.