Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In regard to the energy money, renewable energy, the majority of the $60 million that we’ve spread over the three or four years is going to be accounted for through O and M, through contributions to things like Arctic Energy Alliance, to communities, or to the funds we’ve put out there to help businesses and communities improve their energy efficiency. We’ve also instituted standards for housing, our EnerGuide 80. All our new buildings and retrofits for government buildings have to exceed the National Building Code by 25 percent in terms of energy efficiencies. Some of that money is captured.

The money to upgrade our own buildings to biomass or other forms of alternate energy is

included in this budget. The other ones won’t be captured here. When it comes to IT infrastructure, I’ll just point out that one of the big ticket items in the budget is the rollout of our new financial information system, affectionately known as SAM, which has been rolled out this year with a minimum of disruption, I’d like to add, and I commend all the people who worked hard to do that. We don’t want to be tarred with the same brush as the folks in Ontario. In fact, we’ve gone to great lengths to avoid anything that would cause us problems. If we work with Health on electronic health records, we’re going to be very cognizant of the need for full transparency and accountability of how we do things, following our contractual processes so that we in fact don’t become painted with that brush that the Member has mentioned here.

The issue of environmental liabilities is one that more work has to be done. We, at this point, tend not to do environmental assessments until a building is going to be surplused off. At that point, that work is done. There is, if there are ways to do that, as we look at our condition reports on buildings and as we do our continued assessment on deferred maintenance, identify those areas which could be identified as having environmental liabilities that will require expenditures at this House. Thank you.

I appreciate the Minister’s remarks there. I am still interested in whether or not we have a described evaluation process in place for this new approach, this new fall approach to capital planning to make sure it is doing what we wanted it to do.

I have to mention in terms of our beloved SAM program, my local housing organization is struggling to meet their payroll today. There are a lot of people that are keenly aware of what some of the limitations of SAM might be. Hopefully that is being resolved as we speak, but I still think a good evaluation of our expenditures on information technology might be something worth consideration by the House. Thank you.

The Member for Weledeh has raised the issue of problems which, by our determination, are related more to not collecting rents, not submitting invoices and not getting the proper paperwork done and is not, by my understanding, from what I have been told, an issue related to the new system but more basic issues related to those areas that I have just touched on. We have been working and following up on that as soon as we got that information to make sure we got it sorted out.

I agree with the Member that we should be able to pull together a package once the 2009-2010 year, the first cycle through our new process is complete to do some kind of debrief and year-end review to see how well it worked. We know that we have

gotten a lot of projects out the door. We can look at indicators like the number of carry-overs, how fast we got contracts out on a comparative basis and those types of things. We have also increased the requirements from Class D so that we need greater certainty and tighter figures going forward to avoid drawing out a process or being so off the mark in our estimates. We will look to work with committee on providing that type of feedback.

As well, we are prepared to appear before a committee to look at the information technology requirements of the government. We have committees that deal with that. It is a very big complex issue with a very great number of systems. They are requiring a heavy investment. That Knowledge Management Plan that we are coming forward with is going to pull all those pieces together. We hope for the first times we can lay it out in its entirety and work with committee on the best way to move forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Next on my list, actually are there any other...Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just in regards to the infrastructure that the communities that I represent that are I wouldn’t say being properly...Like with my Member’s statement today with the upkeep of the buildings that the government we do own of the schools, and the fire department and all the other buildings that we do have, that the upkeep is not being done. I know the monies that we are getting...Due to the short shipping season per year into the communities, this year we were really late due to the barges leaving from the port of Tuk late this year. A lot of stuff didn’t make it. One of the colleagues said today that stuff was being bumped. The cost of living in the communities is high. During these times that we are going through with the economy, we have to try to flow through the contracts quicker into the communities. It could be little things. It could be changing windows for local contractors which we need in Ulukhaktok, by the way. The black mould issues in the communities are really bad. People are getting sick, asthma, elders, it is not healthy. People are just trying to be able to make their way with what we have been given with ECE. There are no contracts in the small communities. It makes it tough to live there.

Under the New Deal that was from the government with all the infrastructure in O and M to the communities, it has to be topped off, because, like you said, buildings are aging and the cost to run is greater. Some communities are paying $20,000 a month in fuel to heat some buildings, which is not right. We could be utilizing that money somewhere else.

In the housing units that are needed in the small communities, we get housing units being built in the

Territory. That small community is in need. We have young families growing up with nowhere to go. We have overcrowding. That is where everything escalates, the black mould and everything.

For Paulatuk and Sachs Harbour, within the next two years, I am really hoping that our government sees the need for a four-plex in each community, if not more, just because of the shortage of housing. Elders facilities in Tuk which we have and are grateful for. We just need a front door. So we have to send one of our elders out of the community -- he was in a wheelchair -- because he couldn’t open the door. It is a safety issue. We wanted electric doors so he could go out of the building on his own. So he is back in Aklavik now under long-term care.

Elders facility in Ulukhaktok which I have been pushing for, I brought this up. We had a motion in the House to try to push it forward. People in the communities just want to take care of our own. These are small things I am bringing up right now, but they are big to us.

Back to our schools, we need an extension in Tuk because of the students there, and we had a motion in the House last year that I have been trying to work with. I am hoping to get the Minister to come up to deal with it and just the proper upkeep.

One thing we all have to realize, people are struggling outside this building, in the communities and in Yellowknife. We have people on the streets. We have to try to help them a little bit more in regards to what we have been doing, which is flow through the government. Right now we are doing a good job with all the money that is being spent in the communities which we are really thankful for, but we need just a little bit more to make our ends meet and to help our people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In regards to the issue of the cost of living, it is one that is of concern to all of us. As we look at all the energy efficiencies, the money of $60 million that we have allocated over four years, the wind power initiatives, all these types of things all appear to make those various investments in communities as well. We will soon be all looking at the recommendations on the electrical rate review, which has substantive recommendations that I think will assist, as well, in downward pressure in the cost of living. We look to that.

In regards to the tens of millions of dollars of assets we have on the ground in communities, be it housing or government, there is a recognition that we have to look at how we structure ourselves so that we have adequate maintenance. Right now, we have a clear difference between the housing support staff that are there who only deal with

housing issues -- and in many cases are the only folks on the ground -- and all the very many government buildings that are there that there are ways we can possibly work better with housing to have more of a settlement maintainer approach. Public Works as well is looking at options like settlement maintainers to try to get some folks on the ground to help us deal with this deferred maintenance issue. It is one I think where there is room for us to be more creative and effective. We look forward to working with committee on how we can structure that in the coming months. Thank you.

I would just like to thank the Minister for bringing up power rates. There is a couple in the community of Tuk who sent me a fax last week in regards to a power bill. From $400 in one month, October came around and it was $1,000. They are teachers in the community. For $1,000 a month, they looked at it and compared every month of utilization of the kilowatts per hour. It is all the same. Why would it jump up $600 almost?

In the communities, if you are not trying to pay your rent, you pay your power and you have to try to feed your family. I have nine kids. I go through the same thing every month. How are the people supposed to...substandard housing in regards to some of the units. The rental rates should be readjusted. The power rates...I can’t wait until the Power Commission comes in and talks to us in regards to rate zones, because I am going to be pushing for one. What we have to do is try to help our people. We can’t just keep giving and taking from them all the time. Thank you.

I thank the Member for his comments, Mr. Chairman, and look forward to that discussion as we look at electrical rate review and how we move forward collectively to address some of those enormous pressures. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Next on my list is Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The opening remarks from the Minister certainly is somewhat good news for us in our communities in terms of the large infrastructure dollars to be going into our communities, and the work that his staff and the Minister and subcommittee for infrastructure has done in terms of making some significant changes in terms of how we are going to do this due process of capital planning. I would like to say to the Minister and to the Minister of the subcommittee in terms of the infrastructure, it was a really good move for them in changing this system. It meets some of my communities in terms of the barging system, the winter road system. It has more planning and makes more sense in terms of how to get projects in our communities get going. I want to

thank the Minister and his staff and the subcommittee for working on this and putting it through here.

I want to ask the Minister in terms of the largest plan investments in the communities, on page 2 of his opening remarks of largest plan investments in communities and government infrastructures. I know we have the largest plan now. The trick would be, Mr. Chairman, in terms of having this plan implemented and being successful, because you see the amount of carry-overs that we had some discussions in terms of carry-overs from project to project. I am somewhat asking the Minister in terms of his confidence in terms of having this large plan of investments in the community be successful as there are time deadlines on these investments here.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I indicated earlier, it is our assessment that overall, on the average, we have hit about 75 percent of the projects out the door. Some departments like Public Works and Services have exceeded, they say, 90 percent of their projects out the door. That is the big figure that we have that I have been able to share here. Thank you.

Overall, possibly these figures are very accurate. However, I experienced in my region where there are some projects that have taken two to three years and now I am not even sure if some of these projects are even completed this year. I could be very specific with the Minister, however, I’m going to ask if from some of these regions that are very challenging in terms of transportation, of material and supplies, and sometimes these supplies are not on spec or they’re not there, and there are some of these projects that seem to, they’re minor maybe for the government but major for the communities that seem to have a two or three-year delay. So I guess that’s what I’m asking in terms of regions like the Sahtu that is a little more challenging than the all-weather highway communities.

We can, if it would help the Member, we could ask...Public Works had indicated that they could pull together for the Sahtu an assessment of where the projects are, the government projects. We’d have to ask other departments as well, though, like the Housing Corp, where they were for the projects for the last year and provide that information to the Member. Thank you.

I would certainly appreciate the additional information, if the Minister can get it from the various Ministers in terms of the projects that are on schedule and the ones that are delayed or

haven’t yet been completed. I certainly appreciate that information from the Minister here.

I want to ask in terms of these projects here, I certainly appreciate, again, the amount that’s going into the Northwest Territories economy. Can the Minister tell me if he has any figures in terms of the amount of percentage that’s going directly to the northern or the aboriginal companies and communities that are going to be benefitting from that region in that these dollars would be staying? I take it the majority will be staying in the Northwest Territories, even in the region itself. You have outside contractors coming into regions, that they had shown some benefits but not as much as some that our people would like to see. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, the information that we’ve committed to provide to the Member will include a column that indicates, since it’s public information, who, in fact, got the contracts for the various projects. Thank you.

Thank you. I look forward to that information. Mr. Chair, I would like to look at the issue of the deferred maintenance deficit. The Minister had indicated that approximately $470 million was estimated within the GNWT. In this new capital planning process they identified approximately $119 million to this deferred maintenance in the government here. Can the Minister indicate to me that of the $470 million, they’re going to look at $119 million? What does it say about the rest of the funding that’s been going for deferred maintenance? So that’s coming to a new capital planning process?

The other capital money will be going to new projects and not to maintenance that has been identified on the books for a number of years but never carried out because of lack of funding. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, certainly, I look forward to having some more discussions and debate with the Minister as we go through the whole department. I want to say to the Minister we certainly appreciate some of the initiatives and leadership in terms of changing the capital plan process and hope that this will fit in with our communities and we want to see and how...I guess I’m really anxious to see how this would roll out and see how it will have an impact in my communities that I represent and then see the benefits of this whole new process. I just wanted to end with these comments, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. I didn’t hear a question. Next on my list is Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to start off with, again, like I said yesterday, I think the government has to be given a certain amount of credit for getting the substantial capital

dollars that we see here before us. Like I said yesterday, it’s unprecedented. I know the Minister spoke of it in his opening comments as well. It’s good for a number of reasons. Obviously, the downturn in the economy is taking its toll on all areas of the country and the world, for that matter, and the Northwest Territories is no different. So the importance of this money getting out and getting onto the ground, into the communities, into contractors’ hands and into the local economy can’t be underestimated. I think even if we’re at a 75 percent clip, that the thing that I think we really need to keep our eye on, especially right now, is getting this money out the door and getting these projects started, constructed and concluded in the fastest way that we possibly can. I think that money will work for us even more if we can do that, get the money out the door. I believe the Minister said 75 percent. I think the carry-over, if 75 percent is the number we’re using on $470 million, that’s about $112 million or thereabouts, but that’s still too much.

I think, looking back over past budgets, we’ve hired a number of individuals in various departments to try to get these carry-overs addressed and get the projects started, constructed and concluded. I guess I just want some more assurance, and I haven’t seen a great improvement -- I know this is only the second year and I think it is certainly a step in the right direction -- but this is something I think we need to keep our eye on and we need to have some indicators as to whether or not it’s actually getting any better and improving. Because we’ve hired a number of people and we’ve got the money, but let’s make sure we’re spending it and getting it out there.

I guess that’s a question I’d have to the Minister, is what indicators are there going forward that the carry-overs are going to be addressed in a meaningful way and they’re not going to be...You know, if it’s 75 percent this year that we’re spending, I want to make sure it’s 85 or 90 percent next year government-wide, not just the Department of Public Works and Services.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d just like to point out that we’re still in the midst of the season, there’s still work being done. That 75 percent is our estimate, at this point, of the year. By year end we anticipate that 75 percent number to be higher. So it’s not to be assumed that it’s a 25 percent carry-over at this point. There are still projects underway, still work being done that are going to be completed, hopefully. So we agree with the Member that we want to make all the continued efforts to minimize the amount of carry-overs, to try to get the projects done in the year that the money is voted and we’ll

be tracking that, as I indicated to Mr. Bromley, that as we conclude the first full cycle we can pull together the numbers so we can jointly assess what has worked and what might need to be tweaked or if there are adjustments that need to be made with an eye towards hitting some of those targets. Thank you.