Thank you, Mr. Chair. For the revolving funds, all of these improvements are made out of the accumulated surplus, so there has to be a difference between the revenues and the expenses that allow us the breathing room to be able to afford these things. The way these revolving funds work is, if there was a deficit, the Department of Infrastructure would have to cover that from its own resources. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Debates of March 8th, 2018
This is page numbers 3721 – 3766 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd 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 women.
Topics
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Mccormick
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
Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for the explanation. Okay, that is good to know, but I am just suggesting or I am saying that right now we are showing this year that we will have close to $3 million in surplus, and so technically we can kind of put that towards capital projects. The Minister has outlined a few. A number of them seem to be coming forward in 2018. My guesstimation, just based on the ones he announced, would put us at or over this amount, so I just wonder: are we planning more than $3 million worth of capital projects this year, or are we going to stay within this accumulated surplus? 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
Wally Schumann Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, we are not planning on going over the accumulated surplus. 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
Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, my colleague, the MLA for Yellowknife North, asked a number of the questions I was going to ask. I guess, this accumulated surplus, that is just the net surplus? That does not include any drawdown for any of the capital improvements that are going to be made at the airport? 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
Wally Schumann Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That, no, this includes everything. 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
Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Okay, thanks, Mr. Chair. So I am just a little bit confused. So, this $2.894 million surplus, is that net, then, of the capital improvements that the Minister has already talked about? 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
Wally Schumann Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The $2.894 million is the capital money that we want to use to do the projects that I just mentioned to the previous Member. 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
Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I think I get it now. At what point does the department start to look at whether the airport improvement fees can be reduced? 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
Wally Schumann Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Those are early days to be even talking about that. The reason we put this whole thing into place was because the YZF could not meet their capital needs going forward. We will continue to subsidize it as a government, and, now that we have rolled out this revolving fund with this model, we know we have a significant amount of work to do there. We are operating within this box, and we are doing it prudently, and I think it will be at least probably some time before we can even consider something like that. 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
Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Well, the other alternative explanation was that the government wanted to get this money off the books as part of its fiscal reduction strategy, but I don't want to engage in that debate on the floor right now. I don't think I have any further questions. 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
The Chair R.J. Simpson
Thank you. Seeing nothing further, we will continue on to lease commitments. Comments, questions? Seeing none, move on to page 267, work performed on behalf of others. Comments, questions? Seeing none, can we please return to page 237. Are there any final comments or questions on the Department of Infrastructure? Mr. Testart.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Kieron Testart Kam Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, in its review of this department's business plans, the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment recommended that the Department of Infrastructure conduct an independent review of its procurement policy and work with the Department of Finance to survey prompt payment initiatives across Canada and develop a better model for the territory. I would like to know how this budget responds to those concerns. 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
Guy
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, the issue of prompt payment is certainly one that is on our procurement table across the country. We are certainly working very closely with the other jurisdictions in Canada to see how this is moving forward. We are doing some more work, as well, with our procurement procedures committee to see what the requirements are for a prompt payment system here. Federal government has recently rolled out some legislation to require prompt payment on federal government projects, and we are looking at what they are doing and how that rolls out and how that works, as well. Really, the concept of prompt payment is to make sure that subcontractors, suppliers, and other consultants who are part of projects' subcontractors get paid by the prime contractor after they have gotten paid, so this is not an attempt to deal with disputes around payment or any other of those types of issues that we have in normal contract and procurement.
That work is ongoing and we're working through the procurement procedures. Committee, again, it's very early days across Canada and in other jurisdictions. A lot of the work is being built off of what's happening at the federal government, but we are looking at options to bring that forward for consideration. 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
Kieron Testart Kam Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wouldn't necessarily characterize, although much of this legislation is in early development, it is in the legislative cycle and the province of Ontario has actually already moved ahead with some of these modifications to their construction legislation that governs the construction and industry government procurement, so I would advise the department not to remain tied to the Senate bill, which is working its way through the Parliament of Canada, but to also look at the province of Ontario and what they have accomplished in their short time.
In addition to prompt payment, which is one particular issue that the committee raised, committee was also concerned about how procurement policies are affecting small businesses and impacting competition amongst private industry in the Northwest Territories. How does the department's budget plan to address those concerns? Thank you, Mr. Chair.