Thanks, Mr. Chair. This is the first capital budget for a number of us. There will probably be a little bit of learning as we go through it. I had three issues that I wanted to raise in my opening remarks if I can.
The first issue is with regard to the proposed Department of Infrastructure. At least the way that the Capital Estimates have been laid out, there is this department of infrastructure, which is the proposed amalgamation of Public Works and Services and the Department of Transportation. I will confess, Mr. Chair, as I was reading this on the weekend, it was probably too late, but I was reading this, and all of a sudden, I come across this section in here that says infrastructure, and I thought it was a different category of capital spending or something. I didn't realize that the two departments had been jammed together into one section here. As this is only a proposal, I think it is inappropriate that they are amalgamated in this fashion in the capital budget. That is causing me some concern. In any event, I look forward to hearing from the Minister about how they can separate those two budgets and get us back to where we should be.
The second issue that I wanted to raise, Mr. Chair, is found on page 5 of the Capital Estimates. This is where there are projections of capital investments for 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20. It's rather interesting that it's a declining projection of capital spending for the next three years. You know, this is not really what the Minister of Finance said was going to happen earlier -- I should say last week in his fiscal update and through a series of questions. Certainly this MLA expected to see higher spending on capital projects over the next couple of years, because we've made the point that this $150 million reduction target; that is Cabinet's doing, that's not supported on this side of the House, was going to lead to greater capital spending. But that's not what these estimates show. In fact, it's a reduction of capital spending over the next three years. So that's really not consistent with what the Minister promised in the House last week.
I think that's probably it for now, Mr. Chair. I do have some more specific questions about some of the projects in here. I had given the Minister heads up that I'll have some questions about spending within the Department of Education, Culture and Employment for an Ecole Allain St-Cyr expansion. I appreciate the fact that it's in here, but I have some questions about seeking some outside funding to help support that work. I'll also have some questions about the women's correctional centre that's being built in Fort Smith. That's it, Mr. Chair, for my opening remarks. Thank you.