Mr. Chairman, a number of issues are raised here. Certainly I appreciate the comments or the compliments from some of the Members regarding the department’s work. I certainly agree that the staff are working very hard to make some changes, hopefully for the better.
Mr. Chairman, there are a number of areas that we have really tried to work better and more efficiently. That includes the delivery of capital, the process, energy efficiency in dealing with the different maintenance. We also were quite concerned regarding the level of fuel, the cost of fuel that we provide to the communities. I am glad we have been able to make some changes. The fuel has been raised as an issue. Most Members are aware that this is a product that we deliver in full cost recovery and we expect as we move forward, now that we are providing fuel through the winter roads, we will be able to reduce our costs and pass on the savings to the communities.
A number of Members have raised the issue of biomass or pellets to the communities. Biomass is not restricted only to pellets, and in some areas wood would make just as much sense. We have to start looking at doing those type of projects that could determine whether or not it is feasible to put in wood boilers and things of that nature in the more northern part of the Northwest Territories where we know hauling truck loads or barge loads of pellets is certainly not feasible. We have been trying to target areas where we know have proven technology and can work. Fort Smith, for example, and Hay River, it does make sense to go into the schools and start putting in facilities that can provide heat through pellets. The technology is still fairly new, Mr. Chairman, and the cost for incorporating these new systems are all around half a million dollars, so it is not cheap.
In some other areas of the Territories hydro still makes a lot of sense and the Energy Committee is looking at how we can accommodate that. The woodpile remediation, as Mr. Krutko put it, will probably be something that needs to be done on an ongoing basis for many, many years, and we are hoping that we can look after the concerns and the different facilities that need attention through the new Deferred Maintenance Program, which is a little bit better funded.
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Yakeleya, indicated that we need to incorporate traditional knowledge. I certainly agree. We have had proven examples where site selection and natural contaminants in the soil and historical use probably could have helped us avoid very costly initiatives that we had to end up either redoing or moving. The Clement Building in Tulita has been a concern for the community and for ourselves as we lease the facility, and of course that doesn’t qualify for remediation dollars from us as it is owned by somebody else, but we certainly could try to work with them to see if there is anything we can do and we also have been looking, with interest, to see, as other departments work with the Sahtu to create more independence in that area, to see what we can do. It is a challenge, of course, Mr. Chairman, because it would require new funding that we don’t have in this budget.
I am pleased to hear that the Member is quite happy with the new furnace at Colville School. That furnace was scheduled to be replaced at a later date, but we felt it was no longer proper for the school to be experiencing that many problems with that facility because of that one item, so it was a decision that the region recommended and we certainly supported.
Mr. Menicoche raised the issue of Deh Cho Hall and I certainly can appreciate the concern from the Member as this is a large facility in his community
and has been part of the community for many, many years. However, when we have orders from the fire marshal and we ask for extensions and extensions, and we have a new facility there, it is very difficult and probably not appropriate for us to try to squeeze or push the fire marshal anymore. He has been pretty lenient with us on that facility and we don’t expect that he would have given us any more extensions.
Mr. Chairman, the library really does not fall under the responsibility of Public Works and it wouldn’t be proper for us to start doing the work that really rightfully belongs to ECE.
The other issues regarding the policy which deals with disposal, we certainly can agree to look at that. We agree that band councils and Metis Nation organizations should probably fall in the same category as municipal governments. Band governments do right now fall under that category, but in the case where there is another municipal government in the community, it doesn’t.
Mr. Beaulieu raised the issue of the TSE costs. The costs for the TSE are basically the same as they were last year. We are seeing a slight increase in our budget of $45,000 for this upcoming year because of providing the BlackBerries and the service, and that is causing the increase and the budget for TSE still remains at pretty well the same as last year. The only time we have had increase in it was, as the Member indicated, brought up during our business plans, was when we had to expand the bandwidth, I think it was last year, and also we had to accommodate the Collective Agreement.
Mr. Chairman, there are a lot of concerns in the Delta and across the North, as Mr. Krutko indicated, about facilities, buildings shifting, piles and foundations also causing a lot of concern. We agree that we need to adapt. We need to come up with better designs and that is something we continue to work on.
We also recognize, and completely agree, that we have to continue to try to enhance and develop our capacity at the community level. This year we are adding one more apprenticeship position to the nine that we have already hired, and we want to continue to support and expand that program. Hopefully it will stay as an ongoing area that we can hire and train people in the communities.
This year we are quite fortunate that we are able to offset some of the high costs of energy and we are looking right now to see when is the best time to buy our next supply of fuel for the barge season, and we are delivering now that the winter roads are open and hopefully that is going to result in some significant savings.
Mr. Chairman, I made the comment or a responded comment that pellets versus wood boilers and the other comment I wanted to make in that area now, through our discussions with some of the people who are quite involved with the wood pellet industry, that a pellet producer probably would not have a very viable operation at this point because of the low number of communities, buildings and private homes that are actually on pellets. So that is something that would have to come as part of future development.
Certainly a number of issues have come out during the business plan process, during the capital process on the Inuvik schools, and we are really trying to work with the contractor there to ensure that they do hire local and hire as many from the aboriginal governments that are in the community. That has been raised as a concern and they have indicated that they will be doing that. Right now it is still fairly early in the project to really take a measured statement on it. The question was raised whether the site development was part of the negotiated contract. The site development was part of a separate tender and that was awarded to a local company. The pilings were part of the negotiations. The site development was one contract and the pilings are part of the negotiated contract and we have, as the Member indicated, gone out with a tender for the office complex.
There was an issue raised on the deficiency at the hospital in Inuvik; permafrost issue. For the Member’s information, that has been looked after and has been rectified. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.