Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 83-17(3), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2012-2013; and Tabled Document 84-17(3), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2012-2013, with Mrs. Groenewegen in the chair.

I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. We have two items before us today. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. The committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 83-17(3), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2012-2013.

Does committee agree?

Agreed. We’ll do that after a short break.

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I’d like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. The document before you today, committee members, that we will be dealing with is Tabled Document 83-17(3), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2012-2013. I would like to ask the Minister if he would like to make opening comments. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here to present Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2012-2013. This document provides for a decrease of $1.26 million for capital investment expenditures in the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

Major items in this supplementary estimates include:

1. $300,000 for the Department of Public Works

and Services for investments under the NWT Energy Plan for energy upgrades to the Grandfather Ayah School in Deline;

2. $375,000 for the Department of Justice to

complete the renovations of Courtroom No. 1 at the Yellowknife Courthouse;

3. a transfer of $3.9 million from infrastructure

expenditures of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to operations expenditures for the Department of Public Works and Services for the demolition of the Sir Alexander Mackenzie and Samuel Hearne schools in Inuvik;

4. $2 million for the Department of Transportation

to complete the environmental assessment process, refine cost estimates, and continue project management activities related to the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway Project.

I am prepared to review the details of the supplementary estimates document.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?

Yes, Madam Chair.

Does committee agree?

I’ll ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to please escort the witnesses to the witness table.

For the record, Mr. Miltenberger, could you please introduce your witnesses?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have with me Mr. Michael Aumond, deputy minister of Finance; Mr. Russ Neudorf, deputy minister of Transportation; and Mr. Sandy Kalgutkar, deputy secretary to the FMB.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. General comments. Do Members have any general comments? I guess there are no general comments. We’ll proceed, then, to the detail.

If I could refer Members to page 5 of the document, Public Works and Services, capital investment expenditures, asset management, not previously authorized, $300,000, total department, not previously authorized, $300,000. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe this is the project in Deline, if I am correct. I know there are some very good energy efficiency upgrades focused with this proposed expenditure. I’m wondering what the future might hold in terms of switching to biomass. Obviously, the long-term operational costs, really, are to be had in the biggest way through replacing fossil fuel costs with renewable energy costs. I know the department, the government is well aware of this and doing these sorts of conversions in a number of areas throughout the NWT. Have we done such a thing in Deline yet, and what’s the potential for doing that? What are the conditions that are needed to maybe consider that as the next step after this efficiency upgrade?

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member’s assessment is correct. The first step of the process is to improve the building envelope, the windows, the infiltration of air, the ventilation system, efficient lighting. Once that is done, then Public Works has indicated they will be considering this school for biomass heating.

Thanks for the Minister’s comments. With regard to that, do we have any projects in Deline yet of such conversions, or would this be a first? I’m just wondering what the availability of biomass is. For example, do we know that yet in Deline, the viability of it and so on?

I don’t believe there’s any biomass projects yet in Deline. One of the considerations would have to be to do the costing of the shipping in of the biomass, and compare that all-in economic cost to that of the diesel. I still think it would demonstrate a savings, but I don’t believe there are existing biomass projects in Deline in government infrastructure.

Thanks to the Minister for those comments. That’s really all the questions I had.

Just on that, obviously, it’s sometimes worth paying a little more for a ground-breaking project towards reducing overall costs for subsequent projects so it might be worth a bit of an investment, or at least a full-cost accounting approach when we do that analysis. That’s all the questions I had.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Public Works and Services, capital investment expenditures, asset management, not previously authorized, $300,000, total department, not previously authorized, $300,000.

Page 6, Department of Justice, capital investment expenditures, court services, not previously authorized, $375,000, total department, $375,000.