The Cabinet has regularly spoken about our current fiscal situation and the fiscal realities facing both the government of today and the government tomorrow.

In the Premier’s statement earlier today, he said this increase to our borrowing limit gives the Government of the Northwest Territories increased flexibility to invest in much needed infrastructure that will support the responsible development of the Northwest Territories economy to bring down the cost of living for communities and residents. We’ve also been incredibly clear that this money is not intended to be used for operations or maintenance, which would be a big problem.

The construction of a new facility, the new 30 beds for Avens, comes with an O and M price tag as well. For instance, when we moved forward about five years ago with the development of the dementia facility on the Avens compound as part of the capital planning process, it also came with a $3.9 million annual operation and maintenance cost to hire staff and provide those services. All that money is coming from the Government of the Northwest Territories. The current facility also has a $3.4 million price tag for the long-term care beds or the supported living beds that exist within the Avens compound, and construction of a new Avens facility would come with increased O and M costs as well.

So, we have to make sure that we do our due diligence, that we do our analysis and that those costs are understood and reasonable and that we can afford to continue to provide those services. The build is just one part of it. The ongoing maintenance is another part. Thank you.