Mr. Chairman, right now the government has reviewed the assets of this government, and a tank farm is an asset. It has a value to it. There was a cost associated with constructing this asset. There's a cost associated with carrying that asset on our books. I'd like to ask the Minister again what is the appraised price of this tank farm? You said it's for a nominal fee of $500,000, so I'd like to know what is the actual price to replace such a tank farm and what's the value of that asset?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll ask Mr. Aumond if he has that information.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Minister mentioned that there was a nominal fee offered by Gruben's Transport. Could you give us the amount of that fee? What's the offer that's being made to take over that tank farm?

Mr. Chairman, $1.

Very interesting, Mr. Chairman. Right now you have a tank farm sitting in Fort McPherson that they've been trying to negotiate with this government to try to privatize and try to negotiate with your department to take over that petroleum product. Also there was a question about the fuel product in your tank. It seems like we've gotten quite the runaround from your department. But it's amazing, in Tuktoyaktuk you're able to hand over the last privatization of petroleum products in the Northwest Territories which was in Tuktoyaktuk, and all of a sudden we find out you're willing to sell the tank farm for $1. I'd just like to know is there some sort of a practice that goes on here where you treat one community differently over another community? There's a tank farm sitting in Fort McPherson which is an asset of this government, which is also an environmental liability to this government to clean it up. So I'd like to ask the Minister, will you offer a similar arrangement to the community of Fort McPherson for $1, that if they take over the tank farm that you'll offer it to them for $1, no questions asked?

Mr. Chairman, the reason that Public Works and Services recommended to FMBS to accept the offer was they agreed to take on all the liability costs, the clean-up costs, which were estimated at $500,000. They agreed to take on all that and to save the government in the future from any future environment costs related to that tank farm. So it's not just for $1. It's a savings to the government of $500,000 minimum that we would have had to spend to meet the environmental clean-up that we're estimating for that particular tank farm.

In relation to whether we do it for another community; if the community wishes to consider that or a private firm wishes to consider that, they simply have to write us a request and identify how or what the advantage is to the government to do this. This is really what happened with Gruben's. They identified that they would save us approximately $500,000 in clean-up costs. I don't have the amortization costs of those tank farms at this time, but FMBS agreed that it was a reasonable offer and we've accepted it. So the door is open, Mr. Chairman, if some other private firm wants to do the same thing in Fort McPherson. But keep in mind that it's not just $1. You have to take on the responsibility and take on the cost of the environmental clean-up. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I believe in the Auditor General's report a couple of years ago there was the question about environmental liability and a recommendation that this government should do an assessment of all these environmental liabilities. One of the areas they were looking at is in municipal infrastructure, such as the sewage lagoons and tank farms. I would like to ask the Minister, since you mentioned that there was an environmental audit or review done of the Tuktoyaktuk tank farm, how many other tank farms have we completed an environmental audit on to know what the costs of these clean-ups are elsewhere in the Northwest Territories?

Mr. Chairman, just for the record, I'm not saying there was an environmental audit done for the Tuktoyaktuk tank farm. I'm saying that that's what they offered us in relation to what they estimate would be the cost of the environmental clean-up. We agreed with that, based on the information we had. I can ask Mr. Aumond what environmental assessments we've had done on which tank farms. I believe we have some information on that. Thank you.

Well I've asked this question in committee. I'm not trying to get the department to duck the question, but I believe that we have an obligation to do environmental audits on all our assets to see what the liability to this government is. If we, as a government, are simply going to try to get out of liability by handing these liabilities over to somebody for $1, I think there is a question about legal criteria under the FMB's policy on disposal of assets, that we are not allowed to dispose of them knowing that there is a long-term liability that may occur in the future. I would like to ask the Minister again, is that now the practice of government, that in order to get out of liabilities we simply slough them off to someone else for $1?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I'll have Mr. Aumond respond to that.