This is page numbers 5713 - 5790 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. View the webstream of the day's session.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think that is what we all hope for. I would like to make a suggestion, then, to the Minister, that there be some way of measuring performance or the capacity aspect of the Department of Infrastructure in, basically, getting the money out the door. Is that going to be part of the consideration of developing this policy, some monitoring or tracking of capacity and our ability to get money out the door? 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

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I can commit that we will monitor all departments to ensure that they are getting projects out the door in a timely fashion, and if there is a reason for them not to have, then it will be part of the reporting process, and we will keep all those concerned up to date. I will make a commitment that we will work with all departments to ensure that projects are timely and out the door. 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

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think that it is important to work with the departments, but we also need to be aware of what our contracting procurement capacity is within the Department of Infrastructure to get these projects out the door.

I guess that the last thing that I want to say is that in no way am I questioning the dedication or work that our employees do; I just want to make sure that we have the resources and that they have the resources to get the job done. I appreciate the commitments made by the Minister and look forward to us not having as much carry-over in future years. 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

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. No comments from the Minister. I will call a brief recess.

---SHORT RECESS

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

I will now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we were having general comments on the bill. Next in line, we have Mr. Beaulieu.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, too, want to talk a bit about the carry-overs. I just would like to ask the Minister if there was a way to spend this money. If this is a small amount, like the deputy said, this $122 million is one of the smaller that was carried over, even based on this $122 million of a carry-over, had that been spent, it would have a lot more buying power than it would be next year. I would like to ask the Minister if there is, aside from directives, if there is some sort of a physical plan to address the carry-overs? 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

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. All of this money that we talk about here is earmarked for specific projects. I think I pointed out a couple of times the reason for some of those projects not getting out the door. I have directed FMB and my colleagues that we need to take a serious look at some of these carry-overs, and, if there are smaller projects that are just not being done, then we may need to look at pulling that money back and trying to reallocate it to projects that we have a better chance of getting done. I think they got the message, and it's a message that I think we need to continue to push going forward. That way, we can limit the amount of carry-overs because, if there is a chance that a particular department can lose some money that is not being spent and put it back in the kitty for other projects, then they may try to get the projects out the door a little sooner. 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

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. Beaulieu.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Earlier during question period, an honourable Member of the House asked about what was referred to as red-flag projects, that the red-flag projects would be projects that would be ready to go out the door so that, if the departments are unable to get the projects completed and they are getting carried over, there is carry-over year after year, and just by inflation alone on a carry-over of this type we are losing a couple of million dollars, just on inflation alone. That is because we lose buying power every year. If inflation is 1.8 percent, like I think it was last time, this carry-over would cost us $2.1 million, so in order for the government to be more efficient. Of course, a key thing would be that these projects are desperately needed or other projects where money is actually being spent in the community instead of the money being carried over, I would like to ask the Minister if there is such a thing left as what used to be referred to as red-flag projects or projects that are ready to go when other projects are unable to get off the ground. I would like to ask the Minister if red-flag projects still exist. Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My understand is the red-flag projects are ones that are next in line for some of the infrastructure money. Some of them could eventually turn out to be multi-year projects that would have some carry-over of their own. If you look at the amount of carry-over with the money we have now, there are some big projects here, Stanton hospital, for example. I think there is about $15 million towards that, and then there are a couple of other ones, Inuvik correctional and some other bridge rehabilitation projects and that James Creek highway camera. They are all carried over, so those are all ones that are in the hopper, and the planning is being done. If we can get all of those out the door before the end of this fiscal year, then I think we will put a dint in the amount of carry-overs that the folks in the 19th Assembly would have to deal with. 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

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. Beaulieu.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

June 4th, 2019

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Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wonder if the Minister through his department could start looking at carry-overs in two allotments, one of some of the projects that he just spoke of like the hospital. I am sure nobody wants to see the money taken away from the hospital when it's almost complete, but there are also projects that have not started at all. I was wondering if the Minister could identify how much of this $122 million is on projects that have not started at all. 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

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister.

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Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

I would have to get the specific information, but, my initial thought, that would be a very small amount. I will try to get the information as to projects that have not been started. Because I do know, when we did go through the list with the specific departments to FMB and I had listed some of the projects, it came to a very small amount, but it still was a carry-over that we were concerned about, not including the larger carry-overs which are multi-year projects that we need to continue to fund. I will look to get that information and pass it on to Members. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Beaulieu.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have no further questions on this. Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Next on the list, we have Mr. McNeely.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My comments in regards to the carry-overs, living in a seasonally accessed area, I can see the rationale behind always having carry-overs, and I am quite satisfied to understand carry-overs. Carry-overs could be carried over for a number of reasons, seasonal access, for example. Most of our projects are accessible when the ground is frozen. Then, in summertime, most of the ground is suitable for compaction. So those are additional factors here that would substantiate carry-overs, and I am quite satisfied to receive an explanation on the justification of carry-overs, but, outside of that, I think we will always have, this government will always have carry-overs and, I think, has had, in the past, carry-overs, just because of the environment that we live in. Most of our communities are remote. Some of them are only accessible by barge.

In some of the Sahtu cases, we have a combination of three communities that are accessible both by the river and by winter road, so the logistics of mobilizing in preparation for a project is critical at best here. If you miss the boat, you miss the boat. That means you are going to have to carry-over to the next seasonal suitability for the project. Those are my comments on that, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. McNeely. Those were mostly comments. Thank you. Next, we have Mr. Simpson.

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R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Like most of the Members here, I also have concerns about the number of carry-overs.

Right now, the economy is slow. Everyone feels it. It has been getting slower and slower throughout our term here. People who are just trying to keep their businesses going, who are trying to keep people employed, keep telling me that there is nothing going on, and they are having trouble keeping people employed. I say, "Well, we have this coming up." "We have this long-term care facility coming up." "We have a fish plant coming up." I keep saying that, and now I question myself when I keep saying that, because these are the kinds of things that keep getting pushed back and pushed back.

This work is needed now. My concern is that, if we keep pushing it off to the 19th Assembly and to the 20th Assembly, we are not going to be able to complete these projects, because our financial situation is not going to get better. Everyone knows what the financial outlook for the territory is, and it is relatively bleak. What we need to do is ensure that we get these projects done now, so that we can keep people employed now, and we can get this infrastructure while we still have the cash to do it. I have a feeling that these are just getting pushed off, and eventually they are going to get dropped. A lot of these are important projects.

I just wanted to throw that in there. I won't take up too much time. No further comments. I don't expect a response. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Simpson. I will give an opportunity to the Minister, if he wishes to reply.