Thank you, Mr. Williams. Seeing nothing further from committee, I will call this. I will remind committee this is an information item only, it's not voteable, but for posterity I will call the department. NWT Housing Corporation, total capital estimates, $23,762,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. Does committee agree this concludes our consideration of the NWT Housing Corporation?

Thank you, committee. Thank you to the Minister and to the witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, you may escort the witnesses from the Chamber. Thank you, committee. We have agreed to next consider the Department of Finance, which begins on page 26 of the capital estimates. Minister, do you have witnesses you wish to bring in to the Chamber?

Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the House. Minister, would you please introduce your witness for the record.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, with me I have Mr. David Stewart, who is the deputy minister of the Department of Finance. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. I will open up the floor to general comments from committee. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Earlier in my general comments on the overall capital budget, I suggested that there be a part of the capital budget where compliance with the fiscal responsibility policy is actually discussed and the calculations are provided so we understand what the envelope is for capital spending. The Minister, as I recall, committed to provide that to Regular MLAs sometime during the business plans. That's like in November. Could the Minister maybe expedite that a little bit? Presumably they've already done all this work. Is there some way we could get it sooner than the business plans? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in the spirit of cooperation and transparency, I will endeavour to get that information to the Members before the business plans. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That's great and, of course, I'm going to say the sooner the better, but I'll leave it to the Minister and his staff to prepare it. We've got it before us so the work has already been done internally, presumably.

Can I get a commitment out of the Minister that, in future infrastructure acquisition plans or capital budgets, that will become a regular component of the document with future capital budgets? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we could probably provide that during the review of the capital plan. I'm not sure about putting in the actual document, but we will provide it to committee during the actual business plan and then make a decision as to whether we put it into the document.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess I'm getting half of what I want. This is an important policy. We passed it in the House, as I seem to recall, so showing some accountability to the public that we actually live by this policy would be helpful in the future capital budgets, but I'm going to leave it to the Minister. Maybe we can work that out with the next one. It looks like he wants to say something so I'm happy to get his comments. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We can't give him all he wants right away. We'll give him half of what he wants for now, and when we are discussing the terms of the business plans, or capital plans, and that is what I should have said before instead of business plans, then we can make the determination there as to whether we included it into the capital planning document. I am sure we will get some feedback from committee, and we will take that into consideration. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. I know that we have moved the finance department along because they do provide that information now in the public accounts, but that is a retrospective look at how we have actually done with the Fiscal Responsibility Act. I think that it would be good financial practice and good public policy to actually include it in future capital plans. We are having the debate and discussion, and that is good, so we have moved the department along a little bit.

I do have one other particular question about something that is not in the capital budget. It goes back to the Minister's statement earlier today in the House about completion of the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Project. Some Members might recall, there was in previous capital budgets, and maybe it was in the O and M, some allocation for something called the Western Geomatic Centre. That was to help us capitalize on the Mackenzie Valley fibre optic line, but that was delayed by Cabinet, this Western Geomatic Centre. I do not seem to find anything, maybe I am looking in the wrong part of the budget, but there does not seem to be anything in the budget about that Western Geomatic Centre to help us capitalize on this Mackenzie Valley fibre optic line. Does Cabinet ever intend to bring that Western Geomatic Centre back into the capital budget in some way? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is right, correct. We actually delayed it for a little while, and I think it is within one of the other department's O and M budget, but I will confirm that, and as we go through the business plan I will see if it is the plan of the department to bring it back through the business planning process and back into the O and M budget. The Member is correct. It was delayed for a while. The intention was, I think, to reinstate it. I will follow up, and then we will have an opportunity to go through the business plan, but if I can get some information before that, I will share it with the Member. Thank you.