Thank you, Madam Chair.

Sorry, Madam Chair. I apologize for the delay. Madam Chair, there are steps underway. Certainly, the reaction that the Member is having perhaps to this is not dissimilar to the reaction that has already been had to the situation that we are in, so there is some shared frustration, I am sure, by all Members. The Department of Finance certainly intends to work more closely with the assets that are coming online in the future to ensure that they are being adequately budgeted for at the front end, that they are adequately planned for, and so that dates are known, as far as they can be, and so, when there is an asset that we know is coming online, we are not in a situation of dealing with it after the fact and not at the front.

I would hope that there will be a closer working relationship between MACA, Infrastructure and the Department of Finance to ensure that, indeed, when an asset is on the list and expected as part of the capital projects, for which there is clearly a plan, that then we can make sure that that is part of the budgeting process, as well.

Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I would like to know what measures or were there any opportunities within MACA or what contingencies did they look at before coming forward with a supplementary appropriation? Were they able to find the money internally? I think the budget of the Department is around $55 million or something. Were there any opportunities to make up the money internally, and what was looked at? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, the only reason that the Department of Finance has received in terms of when we evaluate a submission like this coming forward, certainly, is that there wasn't a lot of flexibility at this stage of the fiscal year remaining for MACA and that, at this stage of the fiscal year, they had already used up a lot of their available room in terms of their support for community governments and grants-in-lieu, et cetera, so, while certainly in their total budget, there might have been some flexibility. Being where we are now here in the fall, late fall, there was limited flexibility to cover what was a fairly significant amount owing to a municipal government. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I will move on to the Member for Hay River South, Mr. Rocky Simpson.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The tax bill there for Stanton is quite substantial, and I see that the property, it says here, is that you, in your statement, is it is assessed by the same methods as those used for privately owned property. Am I correct in saying that MACA is the one who does the property assessments?

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Not entirely. I think it may depend on each municipality. In this particular instance, MACA and the municipalities do work together to have an assessor who comes in and does the assessments, so it is not accurate. I apologize if I said that it is not accurate to say it is done exactly the same as a private property would be made. The grants-in-lieu is part of a Government of Northwest Territories policy, and so MACA follows the policy in order to ensure that the grants-in-lieu are paid properly to the municipal governments, as is required by that policy.

Member for Hay River South.

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. There is an appeal mechanism. To my limited knowledge, and I will just verify it, I don't know that the government has made use of that appeal mechanism. To the knowledge of the witnesses present, Madam Chair, that is not something that is generally done. This is a policy whereby the primary principal of the policy is to provide fair compensation for municipal services to the various community governments. I imagine there would be some hesitancy in general by most departments to challenge an assessment that we are part of creating.

To my knowledge, as I have said, this particular one was not challenged or appealed, particularly with capital projects, and at the front of a capital project, the value of the asset at that moment in time is perhaps less difficult to ascertain than what an item would be worth over the course of many years. That wasn't considered to be needed in this particular instance, to the best of my knowledge.

Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess, if we are looking at a fair assessment, I am hoping that this government takes a look at the assessment and decides, outside of MACA, it would have to be outside MACA, whether it is a fair assessment or not. I am [microphone turned off] doesn't sound like that is done. We just accept, basically, what is put in front of us, and assume that it is fair unless there is something, a report or something, criteria that is met, to make sure it is fair. Thank you.

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Two parts: firstly, that the assessors are certified. These are external to the GNWT, and they are certified assessors, so that comes with it their own ethical obligations, obviously, to ensure that the information they are providing is fair and accurate. In addition to that, the Department of Finance is alive to the Member's concerns. I can assure the Member that there will be a process going forward, internally, to determine whether or not or under what circumstances an appeal would be appropriate, perhaps more formally than what has been done at least in the recent past.

Member for Hay River South.

No further questions at this time. Thank you.

Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My question is: the Stanton Territorial Hospital makes up $3.5 million of the amount being requested here; what is the value of that asset, then?

Minister of Finance.

Madam Chair, I am pleased to say that all three of us came to the same number. It is approximately $300 million.

Member for Yellowknife North.