I am pleased to introduce Bill 19, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 3, 2005-2006. This bill requests authority for additional appropriations of $31.994 million for operations expenditures and $1.189 million for capital investment expenditures in the 2005-2006 fiscal year.
The request for operations expenditures, net of offsetting revenues, exceeds the supplementary reserve reported in the 2006-2007 Main Estimates by $5 million. However, the GNWT will still remain within the guidelines set by the fiscal responsibility policy for the 2005-2006 fiscal year.
Major items included in this request for operations expenditures are:
- $15 million for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to provide contribution funding to communities pursuant to the community capacity building initiative. These contributions are funded by the federal government's Northern Strategy trust fund.
- $4.3 million for increased costs resulting from the rise in fuel prices in the NWT since 2003;
- $3.9 million for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to provide contribution funding to communities for eligible infrastructure projects under the Gas Tax Agreement with the federal government.
That concludes my opening remarks. I would be pleased to answer any questions Members may have.