I’m glad he answered it that way, because that’s a goal. One of my goals in this term is to actually see the chipsealing program on the long-term capital plan. I’d like to ask the Minister again if he’ll work towards that with me. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve heard the Member loud and clear on many occasions now speaking about Highway No. 7 and Highway No. 1 and other transportation infrastructure in his riding. We’d be glad to work with him and it’s our goal to have our roads strengthened and reconstructed and at some point have chipseal applied or other dust suppression measures.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, my questions are directed to the Minister of Finance with regard to my statement earlier about the loan to Discovery Air to the tune of $34 million. The Minister talks about due diligence and when we review the report it’s surprising to me that there was no market disruption review done in regard to this particular loan. There are other lending agencies out there who had loans in place, they had a major stake by way of shared equity in this company, but they weren’t even contacted in regard to this government’s $34 million loan which undermines their ability to basically provide that service in the northern economy. Yet, Mr. Speaker, the loan that the Gwich’in presented at $10 million was at 9.25 percent but the government loaned some $34 million at 10 percent, which is higher than what’s presently in place now. I find that kind of odd.

I’d like to ask the Minister, during the evaluation of the loan request submitted by Discovery Air, did the government officials or Deloitte Touche provide information about the possible ownership, management options and what could be an exchange between the Gwich’in Development Corporation or other private investors such as lending agencies to take ownership of that loan?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, Discovery Air came to us with an unsolicited proposal. We dealt with the company that came to us. We did not, nor do I think it was appropriate for us to try to sort out whatever things may have been going on outside of our purview in terms of other interests, other financing. We were aware the general credit market was very, very tight, that there was time constraints. The level of detail that the Member is asking about the Gwich’in and their plans and all the other possible players were not something that came to our table. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it’s pretty obvious if he didn’t do a market disruption analysis of this loan, I guess you wouldn’t have got that information. But don’t you think by due diligence that that should have been done and why was it not done?

Mr. Speaker, this was a loan for an existing financing arrangement. There was no expansion to the firm. It was not considered anything but that kind of loan agreement and didn’t require a market disruption. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, again, as I mentioned, there was an offer made by the Gwich’in Development Corporation and other lending agencies to the board of directors of Discovery Air based on an agreeable price and a percentage by way of the loan that they were willing to offer. They met with the board of directors before this government made the offer for $34 million. Was that ever considered and the question asked have you approached other lending institutions to see if they are willing to lend you the money versus you coming to the government for a $34 million loan?

Mr. Speaker, Discovery came to us with a request for $34 million. I understand, from what the Member is telling us, the Gwich’in offered 10. Discovery Air made a choice and they came to us with their proposal which we then considered. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. I think the Minister was misled or something as the Gwich’in had already loaned Discovery Air $10 million at 9.25 percent. They were willing to lend them more to get an increased share in regard to that company. I’d like to ask the Minister again, is this government going to follow some rules and procedures that are in place for other loans where you have to go to other lending agencies, get a letter basically showing that

you were not able to get a loan from a bank or another institution before you come to the Government of the Northwest Territories so that rules and procedures can be followed with any loans that this government gives out in regard to this Immigration Fund?

Mr. Speaker, we followed the due diligence process. We did not think this was a market disruption. We did not query what other loans may have been out there. My understanding was that the $10 million loan had expired. We accepted and dealt with the company as they came to us with their request for $34 million, which we saw not only as a loan but as an investment with interest accrued and all the value-added at a time of extreme economic turmoil in the country, and in our own jurisdiction, a company that has hundreds of jobs, it has business relationships with other firms and aboriginal businesses up and down the valley. On that basis we reviewed this, did the appropriate due diligence and made the decisions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I spoke about infrastructure spending by the government to stimulate the economy. I’d like to ask the Minister responsible for the various infrastructure departments, the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Public Works, and Transportation. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister have an actual plan in place that will ensure that his departments spend all of their infrastructure money that they have in the budgets? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, that’s a, that’s a very good question.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, it’s always our intent and we always plan to spend all the dollars and proceed with all our projects that we bring forward as part of our capital budget. Historically, we carried over sometimes up to one-third and possibly more. Over the last while we have done some significant changes to the capital process where the timing of the budget approvals is done in the fall versus the winter months. We’ve changed the system so that we have better due diligence on the projects. We are now in the position where we can roll our

projects out, design them and develop the contracts over the winter months and we expect that’s going to change to carry-overs. We expect better results, less carry-over. The short answer to the Member’s question is yes, we plan to spend all our money, however, we know the difficulties with some of the issues and we probably will end up with some carry-over, although less than one-third. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, specific to highways, housing work and schools, some of the stuff that’s been in the plan previously. Does the Minister have a plan? What is the significant difference between this plan and all the other year’s plans that haven’t worked? Thank you.

The difference is timing and a longer planning period and the ability to have more discussion and have more people on the ground, whether it’s contracted or our own forces. It will allow us to get the contracts out earlier. It will allow us to have more attention paid and more diligence at the project level. We expect that will help us deliver. Mr. Speaker, we are starting to see some of the dollars flying from the federal government, especially in the area of housing, where we will have to spend all the money. It’s a use it or lose it agreement so we expect to do that in the housing front also. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, would the Minister commit to reporting progress from his various departments on the infrastructure spending to the House on a regular basis so that we can keep our constituents advised and our northern businesses and local businesses advised if these expenditures are not going to occur, so that they too can plan for these activities? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, that’s going to be a very challenging commitment to make. We have, since this 16th Assembly came

about ,we have, as a government, been investing a fairly significant amount in infrastructure. We’re close to the $300 million mark in the previous budget and we are looking at it again this time around. When you start adding all the different infrastructure initiatives in all the different departments including housing, some of the new housing trust money, comparing it to what we used to have, it’s probably triple. In 2001 I believe it was around $100 million; now we’re three times that. Having to deliver on a timely basis is going to require all our people on the ground all the time to ensure that we shorten up the carry-overs. We have many challenges. I would have to consider that. I’d certainly let the Members know through committee whether we can accomplish that. It’s going to be difficult to have all of the departments coordinated so we can present progress reports. We may be able to deal with it on a Member-by-

Member basis, but I’d have to investigate to see if we have the resources to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate that reporting progress on all of that infrastructure spending would be difficult. Can the Minister then advise me, if he is able to advise this House or our committee, if the department is not able to carry out the planned infrastructure spending? Thank you.

I think we already have that mechanism in place as part of our process. If there’s a project that’s not going to go forward or has been dropped from our budget, and there is a requirement through our Financial Administration Act to notify the Member and notify the appropriate committee. So I think we already have that mechanism in place. If that’s not enough, then I’d certainly have to have that discussion with the Member to see what he’s looking for. Thank you.