Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I'm just kind of concerned about spending money on an old facility that is going to go out of service. Look, I don't live in Hay River; I'm just wondering if there is any other space. Did they test the market to see if there is any other space where these services could be provided out of, rather than fixing up an old building? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Some program analysis was done in an attempt to try to locate alternative spaces in Hay River in the belief that this would help provide some more diversity in terms of the infrastructure investment that was being made in the community, and that was the initial intent. Ultimately, it was decided that the lease space that was anticipated ultimately wasn't proving to be appropriate or fit to the purposes for which it was intended. As a result, an RFP was issued in order to provide for a new facility for these other health services. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I just want to go up to another item here about the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority. I believe this is a top-up of the pension fund for employees there. It's $1.2 million. Is that what this is all about? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Finance.

Madam Chair, the $1.2 million is for the collective agreement that was signed between Hay River Health and Social Services Authority and public service increased costs as a result of that. The pension-related matters are $338,000 in order to provide the incremental costs associated with the pension for those employees, since they are not part of the benefit plan for other GNWT employees. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Sorry, I had the wrong line item here myself. Do we have a plan to actually bring these people into the public service, the GNWT public service? Like, I have been here now, this is my fifth year. This is going to continue to grow. Have the employees ever been approached or asked to increase their payments? How are we going to deal with this over the longer term? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just continuing on that line of questioning, it appears that the pension fund isn't funding itself. I understand that, if they were going to join our public service, we would essentially have to buy out a number of pensions to that $17 million figure you just quoted. Is there any intention in the next round of collective bargaining with the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority to bring some members in? Is there a way of essentially keeping the old ones and grandfathering those pensions and bringing new ones in? Is that impossible? I'm trying to understand the problem of the cost of bringing them in.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Because the employees of the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority are not employees of the GNWT as a collective, they're not eligible for inclusion in the GNWT's pension plan. At the same time, the health and social services authority obviously is related, and we do support. The GNWT ultimately is the source of the funding, and so we're paying in to support their pension. I am not sure that that's a matter that I can speak to in terms of collective bargaining and what may or may not come forward from those employees. I can certainly explain to the Member why we are having to pay that out, and that is indeed to ensure that they have their pension supported. He is quite correct. It is otherwise not funding itself sufficiently. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you. Can I just get an explanation of, if we were going to bring them into the GNWT, it would cost us $17 million? What is the reason for that? Is it that they are making less, or is it that we would have to give them a better pension? What makes up that $17-million figure?

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. It is simply that the pension fund for those employees is not making enough money, and so it has to get topped up. That is due in part to federal regulations that monitor what the comfort level is on our pension, and so we have to continue to pay in to bring it up to a certain level to ensure that it is stable and reliably available for the employees who may be drawing from it. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister of Finance. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to go back to the temporary operations there in the $350,000. I think that was maybe for the roof repairs. I'm wondering: has the department looked to see if there were additional costs that would be incurred in maintaining that building? Any major costs over the next year or two years until the new one is built? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Mister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have any information as to whether any other costs for specific issues are being anticipated at this point. I can say again that there is an RFP that was issued, and that ultimately it was determined that that would be the better cost-value. The better approach longer-term would, in fact, be to build a new building. I anticipate or expect that that decision does take into consideration the impacts of the old building and whether or not the old building could be renovated. If the Member would like more information about what efforts remain for the old building, I'm fairly confident that we can provide that to him. Thank you, Madam Chair.