Agreed. Brings us then to page 144. Deputy minister's office, operations expenditure summary. Activity total: $92,440,000. We will defer this and move on to page 145. Deputy minister's office, grants, contributions, and transfers. Any questions? Mr. O'Reilly.
Debates of June 24th, 2016
This is page numbers 837-874 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 2nd 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 communities.
Topics
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. In the Minister's opening remarks, he mentions that there is an increase in funding of $2.2 million for the NWT Housing Corporation. I am just trying to see, when I see the line here, NWT Housing Corporation, and I compare what the mains said in 2015-16 to 2016-17, that doesn't really show a $2.2 million increase. In fact, it shows almost $3.5 million dollar decrease. Can the Minister or someone explain what is happening here? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Kalgutkar
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think the Member made a good point. I think our opening remarks probably were not as clear as they could have been. There is some increase to the Housing Corporation into some of the initiatives that they are doing, especially with the RCMP. Part of the Housing Corp is also undertaking some reductions at the same time. There is actually a net decrease to that contribution. Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. The $2.2 million that is referenced in the Minister's opening remarks, I am still trying to figure out how there is an actual increase. Where is the other money that is going into that Housing Corp actually coming from if it is not a contribution from our government? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Kalgutkar
Thank you, Mr. Chair. What I think I was trying to explain is the opening remarks were likely not as clear as they could have been. We are providing some increase to the Housing Corp. For example, we are providing them funding of about $3.5 million to fund construction of 46 housing units for the RCMP, but that is offset. They are also getting some forced growth of $389 million. The Housing Corp is also implementing expenditure reductions at the same time, and it is resulting in a net decrease to that contribution. Thank you. I do apologize for that confusion.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am still trying to puzzle over this. I guess, certainly from this MLA, there is a concern when we are actually reducing our contributions towards housing. We already had a debate here and a motion was passed about setting firm targets to ensure that we can get our housing out of core need or at least meet the national average over the life of this Assembly.
When we are actually reducing our funding to the Housing Corporation, that is not the direction I want to be going in. This is not the direction I understood we were going in. This comes as a bit of a surprise to me. That is more of a statement than anything else. I don't expect a response, but it is not what I had expected to see in the budget. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, what I can commit to the Member is we will reconcile these numbers here with the Housing Corporation mains because I think it will show up in the Housing Corporation mains. Their mains are still getting an increase of funding partly from the federal government. What I will commit to do is I will reconcile this, and then I will share it with the Member. Hopefully, we will have a better understanding of how the numbers came to be. Mr. Chair, thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the Minister's commitment to do that. I look forward to getting the information. I have one other question about the contribution for Arctic Energy Alliance. In 2015-16, it looks like there was a one-time contribution of $1.8 million done through supplementary appropriations. Can someone from the department explain what happened there? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Kalgutkar
Thank you, Mr. Chair. During the last government, the Power Corp was experiencing severe low-water issues. So at that time, the government of the day did approve $29.7 million in funding over two years to the Power Corp. The 2015-16 portion of that was allocated between the Power Corp -- the Power Corp got about $20 million. NTPC got $400,000 for specific initiatives. Then $1.8 million was allocated to the Arctic Energy Alliance.
The Arctic Energy Alliance have subsequently come back to the government and said they were unable to spend that $1.8 million, so they will be spending $840,000 in 2015-16 and a further $960,000 in 2016-17. When Members saw Public Works' budget from yesterday, they would have seen a contribution to the Arctic Energy Alliance that carries over this amount into the 2016-17 fiscal year. Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Appreciate that explanation. If we made an effort to set aside some money in 2015-16 because of the $20 million subsidy for diesel operations, was there any consideration in make a similar allocation in 2016-17, the current year? Because we are still spending $7.5 million on a diesel subsidy. Why are we not setting aside some more money this year to try to get us out of this perpetual problem we seem to be in? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Kalgutkar
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is correct. There is $7.5 million set aside in 2016-17 to continue to address the low-water issue at the facility. We are still getting data from the Power Corp to assess whether the water levels are coming back. I think the indications are that they are coming back. When we have a better understanding of what their diesel usage is for the first part of this fiscal year, we could likely make an assessment of whether we could allocate some of that funding to more Arctic Energy Alliance programs. Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just so I understand this. If all this money then is not spent subsidizing diesel, then it could be reallocated towards an investment in renewables in the current year? Would that be done through a sup? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes
Mr. Chair, we would have to be back to FMB and seek that authorization. Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters