Thank you, Mr. Chair. I for one have questions in regard to this process as to how capital has been approved. Yes, we’re into our second year. We’ve concluded one year in regard to the term of this 16th Assembly, so we have only have
three years left.
As anybody knows, as long as I’ve been here, if we don’t get anything in capital in two years, it isn’t going to see the light of day until the next election. As a Member who represents small communities and small community infrastructure, there are issues that we’ve been harping about for years and
that we fought to get into the capital planning process. To change the capital process in midstream and implement new initiatives that were never part of capital, I find that very unfair to those Members who have been working on issues and to the small communities.
You look at the capital as it’s laid out. Capital has a very important role in developing our social and economic ability in a lot of our communities by way of job creation, business opportunities, employment opportunities and bringing down the social debt this government has by way of income support payments and other payments we make.
I think it’s important, too, that we realize we can’t continue to invent systems for new initiatives to pop up on the books that basically were never there, yet forget that the whole reason we are here is to ensure we do find a system that’s fair to everyone, not just to any particular department or departments but to communities and community infrastructure.
I spoke in this House earlier this week in regard to the over 30 year old facility in Aklavik, the Joe Greenland Centre. All of them were looking at the report that I finally got my hands on. They only spent $200,000 on that facility, and it’s over 30 years old. There are some major problems with that facility in regard to electrical code violations. That facility is not up to code because of it being as old as it is without proper maintenance
I’m talking about motions passed in this house in regard to Members putting forward motions trying to get projects in place, regardless if it’s a school or a road to access gravel, and also projects that will go a long way to improving the quality of life in communities. Previously they had swimming pools that were part of the budget process where few communities would be able to take actions.
Two years ago we basically had a fund in regard to community capacity funding to allow communities to identify projects they’d like to put on the books, but because of the responsibilities we have — and the same in regard to community infrastructure.
We talk about water treatment plants. There was a major study that took place in the community I represent, in Aklavik, in regard to the health issues — the health of the people of the Aklavik in regard to the potential impacts to health from H. pylori that has been detected in several residents. Again, there’s a direct correlation between that and the health of the community and the water treatment facility that they have in the community.
Yet again we have to wait till 2010 for this to become a reality. I think it is important that this might be a new initiative that’s been put forward. I know it was tried in the 12th Assembly, and it lasted
only one to two years. Basically, they went back to the old system. My question is: why did they do
that? Here we are again trying something definitely….
My big beefwith this process is that it was all done in ministerial committees that have been established by Cabinet, with no real involvement from this side of the House in regard to those capital items that are now being put in front of us.
We’ve got a business planning process in regard to every committee and every department. You go through it clause by clause, line by line and identify those items. Next, beside the document you were looking at, was usually a 10, 15 or 20 year plan, so you could see where these items fit into the plan. You knew they were going to show up eventually and that we stuck to a plan. Right now, from what I can see, there is no plan.
I think it’s important to realize that we as government have some challenges, yes. We’re building $20 million office buildings for the comfort of a few departments, and there was a proposal put forward for $10 million to build the same facility. I have a big problem with that, especially in regard to the whole area of cuts and layoffs.
We continue to go full speed ahead. It depends who gets to the front of the line, gets their capital project into the books and just gets on with it without realizing that there are also political and social impacts that have taken place throughout the Northwest Territories in regard to what we are doing and where we are going.
Again, in regard to Capital Estimates they’re under new initiatives. Of the new items, which are basically coming forward in 2009–2010, a large number are new initiatives. I’m using special warrants. We were told earlier on, back in February when we passed the interim budget, that special warrants were only going to be used for emergency type items, yet we’re seeing items pop up that aren’t of special warrant status.
The other issue I had questions about was in regard to the Financial Administration Act. There were a lot of battles fought in this House in the 13th Assembly and the14th Assembly in regard to capital
items. They’d either shown up on the books out of thin air or basically were moved from one Member’s riding into a different person’s riding with no consultation with Members. That was basically added to the Financial Administration Act to prevent these types of things from happening.
Those are the types of concerns I have. I question a lot of these items in front of us because of experience. I’ve seen over the years in this House how people have influence over the budgetary process, for ministerial committees, through departmental priorities. We tell them to cut in one area; they find ways of inventing projects through
processes that are new, untried or unknown because of not having done it before.
I’d like it to be possible for us to see some sort of a process of accountability, transparency, actually seeing where these capital projects go in light of particular communities and particular ridings. I’d like to see how many projects are in any particular riding and how many projects are in a particular community to really reflect on exact distribution of wealth — where that distribution is being expanded and exactly what the benefit is to the territory as a whole versus one riding, one region or one community. I think it’s important that we take a close look at that.
In regard to the issue that the Minister touched on about technical services, there was a request for proposal a couple of years ago in regard to telecommunication and cellphone service in all our communities in the Northwest Territories. There was that request for proposal put out there. NorthwesTel did the same thing in partnership with an aboriginal company.
I’m just wondering: exactly when are we also going to look at improving technical services throughout the Northwest Territories, not simply for government purposes but also for the residents in the Northwest Territories? Maybe that is more in line with the question I would direct at the Minister in regard to what’s happened to that proposal. What’s the status of it and, more importantly, where are we going?
In closing, as I stated in my opening comments, if you don’t get your items in this budget, this cycle, you’re basically out of luck. They won’t have seen the light of day. At the end of the 16th Assembly you
can talk about it in the next election, because you aren’t going to get it.