Mr. Chairman, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2007-2008 requests authority for additional appropriations of $6.004 million for operations expenditures and $3.615 million for capital investment expenditures in the 2007-2008 fiscal year.
Major items included in this request for operations expenditures include:
- $2.45 million for the creation and implementation of a Tourism Product Diversification and Marketing Program;
- $1.98 million to fund the projected shortfall of the forest fire suppression budget for the 2007 fire season. This amount is net of recoveries through the Mutual Aid Resource Sharing Agreement for fire suppression activities within other jurisdictions;
- $940,000 to provide appropriation authority to draw down funding provided by the federal government through the patient wait times guarantee trust fund;
- $856,000 to fund the cost of immediate repair of a section of the Hay River runway; and
- $533,000 to provide contribution funding to three groups under the Western Harvesters' Assistance Program.
Major items included in the request for capital investment expenditures include:
- $1.6 million to fund the purchase of five modular classrooms for the Ecole St. Joseph School renovation project; and
- $570,000 to cover a funding shortfall in the water and sewer upgrade project for the Ecole Allain St. Cyr and William MacDonald School.
Also included in the request are two reallocations from operations expenditures to capital investment expenditures, as follows:
- $523,000 to fund a shortfall in the costs associated with the upgrade to PeopleSoft 8.9; and
- $417,000 to begin preliminary work in 2007-2008 for a territorial dementia facility to be constructed in Yellowknife.
That concludes my opening remarks. I would be pleased to answer any questions Members may have. Thank you, Madam Chair.