Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to talk today about the accomplishments of the Department of Public Works and Services during the 14th Assembly.
I am especially proud of the contribution that Public Works and Services has made to the interdepartmental team working on the safe water initiative. Public Works and Services, along with Municipal and Community Affairs, Health and Social Services and Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, have collaborated on a number of activities aimed at ensuring that every NWT community has safe drinking water.
These efforts include practical approaches, like inspecting and assessing the water supply systems in all non-tax-based communities, providing technical advice and assistance to community water system operators, and assisting with planning of facility improvements. The department also led development of a framework and strategy for managing the NWT drinking water system which will be used to guide future system improvements. The success of Public Works and Services staff and other members of the team in ensuring safe drinking water is reflected in the test results that are now posted on the Internet as part of the Public Works and Services Web site.
Another important step taken to ensure the health of NWT residents has been the completing of environmental assessments of the tank farms operated through the petroleum products division. As part of our voluntary compliance agreement with RWED, the department has developed a plan for remediation of sites, beginning this year at several locations.
During the last four years, Mr. Speaker, many important facilities have been built across the NWT. The total value of these projects exceeds $164 million. I would like to highlight a few of the projects. Two of the largest and most complex buildings ever managed by the department were constructed in Yellowknife and Inuvik. Other projects, such as the new Fort McPherson water source and the renovations to several schools in the South Slave, are providing services locally. Whatever the program area, the efforts of Public Works and Services staff have benefited residents throughout the North.
Mr. Speaker, because of its broad expertise in construction and operation of northern facilities, PWS has been developing publications to assist communities and contractors in the design and construction of northern facilities. The good building practice manual has been well received by the construction industry and serves as a guide for design consultants. A booklet and checklist on fire prevention in public buildings has been widely distributed and actively used. A third publication is almost ready for publication. That one is called Good Engineering Practice for Northern Water and Sewer Systems. It will serve as an additional building block in the structure that is in place to protect our community drinking water.
On the national scene, Mr. Speaker, PWS has taken the lead in representing NWT interests before the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission. The result of this work has been the designation of the three territories as high-cost serving areas. Southern telephone companies are now required to subsidize NorthwesTel operations. With this support, NorthwesTel has started a $75 million, four-year system improvement plan that will result in a total infrastructure upgrade to their facilities, and thus better quality telecommunications services for residents. We can now expect to get the same basic array of telecommunication services in our small northern communities as are available in larger centres in southern Canada. Moreover we continue to pay for these services at rates that are comparable to other jurisdictions rather than at rates that reflect the much higher cost of providing the service in the North.
Many of the services that Public Works and Services provides are designed to support departments in the delivery of their programs. While they may not be visible to those outside of government, they are critical for the effective delivery of the programs that northern residents rely on. Nowhere are these services more important than in the field of computer systems and data communications. The department has recently established a storage area network to support introduction of major data systems that are under development by various departments. They have also improved computer security by implementing a corporate firewall, virus protection and spam filtering systems. In Yellowknife, a fibre optics network has been set up to handle the large amount of data being transmitted between GNWT buildings.
Mr. Speaker, I have enjoyed my years as Minister of Public Works and Services. It is a practical department, providing concrete services that have an impact on our everyday lives. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the staff at PWS for their hard work and loyal support throughout these years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause