Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As Mr. Kalgutkar has explained, it will depend on how the ownership structure unveils itself. It may take place in terms of a contribution to capital, it may take the form of an availability payment. It may also represent, depending on how the ownership structure is defined and considered at the end of the day, part of the GNWT’s contribution for its ownership in the facility itself.
Debates of March 7th, 2013
This is page numbers 2429 – 2482 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 4th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was going.
Topics
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Aumond
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Robert Bouchard Hay River North
I just look forward to seeing the way the structure is completed once we have the project up and running and the entity, how it’s going to be run.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair Daryl Dolynny
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Page 5-21, Finance, activity summary, budget, treasury and debt management, operations expenditure summary, $26.762 million.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair Daryl Dolynny
Page 5-22, Finance, activity summary, budget, treasury and debt management, grants and contributions, grants, $7 million.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair Daryl Dolynny
Page 5-23, Finance, information item, budget, treasury and debt management, active positions.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair Daryl Dolynny
Page 5-25, Finance, activity summary, office of the comptroller general, operations expenditure summary, $22.377 million. Ms. Bisaro.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just two questions here. One has to do with the Audit Bureau. We have, in my experience, been struggling to fully staff the internal Audit Bureau for a number of years now. I just wondered if I could get an update. Do these numbers in this budget reflect a fully staffed Audit Bureau?
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Aumond
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is correct.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake
That’s good to hear. The other question I have here has to do with the reporting of the public accounts, and I know that the department has been struggling somewhat to get public accounts out by the end or the date that is legislated and by the end of the calendar year. I gather, I think there have been a few changes to the reporting of the public accounts. Is it likely that the department’s going to be able to get the public accounts out a couple of months earlier than we have seen them for the last few years?
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Michael Miltenberger Thebacha
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There has been significant improvement in terms of the time. We have met yearly, at least I meet yearly, the staff meets more often with the Audit Bureau, the audit folks, and we work with all the agencies that are supposed to be reporting in. We have shortened that timeline and are going to keep working on shortening it. There has been recognition of the improvement by the Auditor General, but I’ll ask the deputy if he wants to add anything further to that matter.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Aumond
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As the Minister stated, we have made some improvements. By the legislation, we’re supposed to have the public accounts ready by the end of the calendar year and I think this year we had them ready in October. The current Financial Administration Act dictates that we have to table the accounts at the earliest possible session, which was this one here. One of the changes we are contemplating on revising the act is to make the public accounts available when they are ready. We won’t necessarily have to wait for a session to table them to make them public.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks to the Minister and the DM for the information. I just want to say that I appreciate the fact that the department’s been working really hard and the Auditor General also has been working with the department really hard to try and improve the process and to get the public accounts out a lot earlier. I’ve seen an improvement and I just hope we can maintain that. Good on you for working so hard.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Bob Bromley Weledeh
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to just ask a little bit about the Environmental Liability Fund. It came up in one of the previous departments we were discussing, it might have been Public Works and Services, I can’t remember now, or Transportation. Maybe I could just start by getting clarification on what this is, how much is in the fund if it is a set amount, and how it’s managed to meet the needs. I know that environmental liability can go from zip to a whole bunch in no time at all. How does it work to meet that sort of volatile need?
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Aumond
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Back in 2007-2008 the GNWT, through the Financial Management Board, established a policy and authority for all the environmental costs related to contaminated sites to be paid through a central fund. Prior to that time the government would take an assessment of all the environmental liabilities it had, and it would note them in its notes to its financial and in the public accounts and financial statements. That is no longer the case. We now manage under a central fund.
Back in 2007-08, when we did an original assessment, we booked a large amount of money on our books to remediate those sites. As at March 31, 2012, the fund had a level of $44,187,970. It was a process where at the end of every year, as
sites become assessed and the values and the cost of remediated sites become known, adjustments are made to the fund. As sites are remediated, the fund is reduced by the amount that was booked. We undertake that process every year and we make adjustments where we have adjustments that exceed the appropriation of the government that has been approved by the Assembly, that we will come back and seek a supplementary appropriation to do that if that was required. That hasn’t been the case for the last couple of years.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
March 6th, 2013
Bob Bromley Weledeh
So are we, just for my clarification, booking the value of the estimated cost of remediation or are we booking dollars to pay for the remediation, if you get my drift.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole on Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair Daryl Dolynny
Mr. Bromley, before we continue with these questions here, I would just remind the Member that we are on operations expenditure summary under the office of the comptroller general and we’re hearing about things more like waste management questions. Can you indicate to me how this is related to these pages, please?