I have a general comment and it's one that has been put on the record here on several occasions. It's worth repeating. It's in the area of our capital planning and forecasting and budgeting for construction projects or renovations for major investment in new infrastructure. This can include things like computer and information systems, Madam Chair.
There is again evidence in this supplementary appropriation that we are being asked to come up with additional monies, in some cases substantial amounts of money of a third, a half or multiples of the original opening cost that we may have voted for earlier in the year when the budget year started in 2006.
So my concern, Madam Chair, for the record, is that our forecasting and assessment and budgeting methodologies are very, very incomplete, Madam Chair, in the sense that we are seeing too many of them come back to us for additional increments. I believe that we could be doing a much better job in terms of the front-end assessment, what is needed, of what the actual costs are going to be and when we are presented with a project here in the Legislative Assembly for approval, we are not just starting an opening bid to get something going and then picking up the pieces and the additional costs later on. That's not acceptable. That is not a good way to manage millions of dollars of money, Madam Chair, and so this is another plea.
As has already been stated, our entire assessment, budgeting and approval system for capital projects is wanting. We could be doing a much better job of it. As I said, there are some instances in this supp that I believe is coming back to haunt us. I will point them out at the time. Madam Chair, I am not going to be moving to delete any projects. I am simply bringing to his attention that we could be doing a much better job, Madam Chair.