Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe this is the second year that we’ve handled our capital budgets during the fall and I was encouraged to see the Minister’s statement that based on the results of implementing the 2009-2010 Capital Plan our revised approach is working. I wouldn’t mind a little more evidence than was provided in that statement. I’m wondering specifically, as well, whether or not we have a prescribed evaluation process in place for actually documenting and determining how well the process is actually working.
I have to say we are putting a lot into deferred maintenance. I think our support from other sources allows this to happen. I’m very happy to see that and I’m hoping that a good part of that also addresses some of the need for energy efficiency so that we can enjoy longer-term benefits as well as the immediate benefits of getting some of that maintenance done.
I am concerned about the information technology cost. Just looking at our estimates for 2009-2010 I think were at $13 million. The revised estimate is at $26 million. This is an incredible expense. I see less is listed in the mains this year. Who knows what the revised will be? There are very few jobs involved in these expenditures. There is, as far as I can tell, an unproven record of efficiency from these investments. We know on the basis of problems elsewhere in Canada, I believe the Auditor General has commented on Ontario’s situation and I believe it was called a fiasco there. I’m not sure if it was the medical health records management system that
they put in place. The public is aghast at what was being spent there for what we’re getting from it. I’m hoping the Minister of Finance will actually do some evaluation on these very large and significant expenditures.
The Minister listed a number of major highlights, but I was disappointed not to see a couple of things. One is -- and perhaps this has been mentioned -- the need to get on top of the environmental liabilities that are represented by the several hundred facilities this government owns throughout the Territories that are now aging; a large proportion being over 30 and 40 years of age. We have not done any assessment on those other than a few, literally a few. These are huge liabilities, we know. We’ve spent considerable resources in upgrading our fossil fuel storage tanks across the Northwest Territories, because the federal government is, probably correctly, always ratcheting up the requirements for safe storage of fuel and so on. We can be assured, based on our experience and this trend of ever higher standards, that the environmental liabilities and the cost to deal with them will be huge and will impact all our other programs.
A second thing that I didn’t see was the opportunities again for dealing with renewable energy infrastructure, getting that in place, and building renovations that we really should be taking advantage of with the economic stimulus federal dollars that we’re receiving. I’ve been disappointed. We are doing some through the Housing Corporation. We’re doing 80 or 100 renovations there and so on. But there are major needs in both government buildings and public programs that are needed and will pay immediate dividends. Those things are job intensive and they will lead to ongoing recoveries and reductions of cost in the future.
That’s all I have for now. I’m looking forward to getting into the page by page. Mahsi.