Thanks, Mr. Chair. Look, if our witnesses want to come back and give us more information and it has to be done confidentially, that is fine, but why is it that we cannot take any action now to increase the financial security for the liabilities that are on the ground right now? Is there some legal provision of the existing lease that is in overhold tenancy that the Minister does not have the discretion to increase the security right now? I cannot believe that someone would sign off on a lease that does not allow the Minister to have discretion to increase security when and if required. It is not covered right now. This property could come back to the taxpayers, and I want to know whether the Minister has discretion right now to increase the security to cover the existing liabilities on the site because they are not secured. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

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

I do not know the answer to that, but I know that they have met all security requirements to this stage, so a sudden change by us might be seen as arbitrary. Perhaps the best way of handling this, though, would be to have us look into it and perhaps we could meet with committee on a confidential basis to discuss some of these issues.

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

Yes, I am happy to accept that, but we have been talking about this for two years. At least I have been talking about it for two years. There is currently unsecured liability for the existing condition of the site. Yes, they have met terms and conditions of the water licence, they have paid up the security under the water licence to the state that it is at, but right now we do not have enough security set aside if something went off the rails with the property to cover the existing liabilities. That is the problem. If the Minister has discretion to change that so that we are not on the hook, it is my view and I think it is dictated by the mandate and just good financial management that we get the security in place. So, if the Minister wants to come back and talk again about this, I am happy to have him talk to the committee about it, but there is an unsecured amount of liability there, and that needs to be fixed. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are going around in circles a bit here, but, as I say, they did meet all security requirements. They might see a sudden change as arbitrary, but I will look into this. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. No further questions? Okay, committee, we have no further questions. We will now go to operations expenditure summary, $6,991,000. Does the committee agree?

Agreed. Thank you, committee. We will now return to departmental summary on page 309. Lands, total department, $27,673,000. Does committee agree?

Agreed. Thank you. Does the committee agree that the consideration of the Department of Lands is concluded?

Agreed. Thank you. Thank you, committee. Thank you, Minister, and thanks to your witnesses for appearing before us. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber. No closing comments? No.

Okay. Committee, you have agreed to continue on with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. I will turn to the Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Minister Cochrane, do you have opening comments?

I do, thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am pleased to present the 2018-2019 Main Estimates for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $482,000 from the 2017-2018 Main Estimates, which is a .45 per cent increase.

These estimates continue to support the Government of the Northwest Territories' objective of ensuring a strong and sustainable future for the government and its programs by managing expenditures due to limited revenue growth.

The 2018-2019 Main Estimates reflect:

• a decrease of $1.5 million which was the final contribution provided to Host Society for the 2018 Arctic Winter Games;

• an increase of $944,000 to support the need for increased grants in lieu of property taxes payments to community governments, as well as an increase for the seniors and disabled persons property tax relief program; and

• an increase of $1,300,000 for community governments to support their operational needs and the delivery of water and sewer services.

The department's proposed spending in 2018-2019 continues to support the priorities of the 18th Legislative Assembly.

Under the Community Wellness and Safety priority, Municipal and Community Affairs has refined its implementation plan for a territorial 911 service, and our investment in this budget will result in this service coming online by the summer of 2019.

Through an increase in funding for community governments, we are continuing to invest in a strategy to close the gap in funding levels to municipal core needs. This funding advances the governance priority by helping to build a stronger relationship with community governments. In support of the cost of living priority area, we will continue to support community governments as they apply for and take advantage of the suite of federal infrastructure funding programs available to them. That concludes my opening remarks. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Do you wish to bring witnesses into the Chamber?

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to bring witnesses.

Okay, thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort witnesses into the Chamber. Would the Minister please introduce her witnesses for the record.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my right is Ms. Eleanor Young; she's the deputy minister for Municipal and Community Affairs. On my left is Gary Schauerte, who is the director for Corporate Affairs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. I will now ask committee to turn to your main estimates document, Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, which begins on page 331. Committee, we will defer the departmental summary and review the estimates by activity summary. Please turn to the first activity, found on page 335. Thank you. We have Municipal and Community Affairs, community governance, operations expenditure summary, $2,036,000. Does committee agree?

Any questions? Agreed. Thank you. Next we have Municipal and Community Affairs, community operations, operations expenditure summary, $2,043,000. Does committee agree?