This is page numbers 767 - 824 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd 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 going.

Topics

Bill 6: An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act
Notices Of Motion For First Reading Of Bills

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The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20 consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 30-19(2), Main Estimates 2020-2021. By the authority given to me as Speaker by Motion 1-19(2), I hereby authorize the House to sit beyond the daily hour of adjournment to consider the business before the House, with the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes in the 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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Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

All right. I now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Does committee agree?

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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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

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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Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, committee. We will take a short 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 Lesa Semmler

I now call committee back to order. Order. We're calling back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 30-19(2), Main Estimates 2020. Does the Minister of Infrastructure have any opening remarks?

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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Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

I do, and I don't stand up; right? I do. Thank you. I am pleased to present the 2020-2021 Main Estimates for the Department of Infrastructure. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $11.6 million, or 4.4 percent, over the 2019-2020 Main Estimates. These estimates support our fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending while matching the modest expected revenue growth over the coming year.

Highlights of these proposed estimates include:

  • forced growth increases of $7.7 million, which primarily consists of $2 million for utility costs at the new Stanton Territorial Hospital and $4.5 million for UNW collective bargaining increases;
  • $3.9 million for a new lease and operations and maintenance costs associated with the long-term care facility in Yellowknife;
  • increases of $2.8 million, which includes $2.4 million in funding associated with the Low Carbon Economy Leadership funding agreement with the Government of Canada and $390,000 for a permafrost data management and analytical system for the Dempster and Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highways;
  • a transfer of $873,000 to the Department of Finance for assets transferred as part of the formation of the Information Systems Shared Services; and
  • sunsets of $142,000 for reduced operating costs for ferry services on the Dempster Highway, as the recent engine replacements on the Louis Cardinal ferry have resulted in fuel savings; and a sunset of $236,000 for reduced environmental monitoring requirements on the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway.

These estimates continue to support the priorities of the 19th Legislative Assembly by promoting energy efficiency and sustainability.

To fulfill the goals outlined in the 2030 Energy Strategy, we will provide continued financial support to the Arctic Energy Alliance and introduce larger-scale grants for communities, commercial buildings, and industry that target reduced greenhouse gas emissions. As such, the Department of Infrastructure will provide $2.74 million in core funding to the Arctic Energy Alliance, as well as an additional $797,000 for community energy grants and $2.27 million for Northwest Territories-wide energy programs supplemented through the Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund. This brings the total Arctic Energy Alliance contributions to $5.8 million.

This concludes my opening remarks. Thank you, Madam 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 Lesa Semmler

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

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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Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Yes, I would like to bring my deputy minister, Dr. Joe Dragon, and my director of corporate services, Mr. Gary Brennan.

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 Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. I'll just get you to introduce who is who.

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Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

On everyone's left, that's Dr. Joe Dragon, and on the right is Mr. Gary Brennan. 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 Lesa Semmler

Thank you. I will now open the floor to general comments, but first, I am just going to say, just as we were following the last 10 minutes, one round for questions, two for each section that we go through. Just opening the floor to general comments on the Department of Infrastructure. Member for Hay River South.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Madam Chair. We are going through this process now, and the last time we were here, we weren't too concerned about COVID, and now we are. I'm just wondering, with these estimates, how factual are they, and are they going to change significantly or remain the same because of COVID? Thank you, Madam Chair.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister.

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Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Madam Chair. We feel that we will be able to produce and deliver on the projects within the department as we thought. I know that there would be extra costs associated with COVID that we are all tracking in our different departments that potentially could be reimbursed from the federal government. That's our goal.

I know that the estimates were submitted to whoever they get submitted to ahead of COVID, so yes, they still are pre-COVID numbers. However, we do recognize that we will have a lot to do in the next year with respect to COVID, so the main estimates and such for the next year are going to reflect a lot more the impacts of COVID.

I would just ask if Dr. Dragon wanted to add anything to that, if that was fulsome? Okay. 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 Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. You're good? Okay. Member for Hay River South.

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Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Madam Chair. Has the department done any work, taking in the fact that we have a pandemic on hand? Have you looked at those numbers and thought about adjustments already? Thank you, Madam Chair.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister.

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Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

I think that's pretty much all the department has been doing for the last while, is adjusting all of our programs, our projects, everything with respect to COVID. It's just unfortunately, with the way that the system of the budgeting goes in, this is my understanding, was we have to get the budget in. It was done prior to COVID, and then there will be adjustments coming. Maybe, Dr. Dragon, I don't know if you have any significant adjustments that you might want to discuss at this point?

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Dr. Dragon.

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Dr. Dragon

Thank you, Madam Chair. Looking at COVID, one of the things we've been doing, right off the bat, we were involved in the border crossings, getting those up, doing a lot of communication, a lot of legislative changes. Looking at when we were giving some benefits to the airline industries and stuff, we had to do legislative changes there in order to enact that in terms of fees. Lots of work around the procurement side and making it available for people to do online, as well as aligning to the regular meetings of the emergency management office. A big part of the work that we do, as well, in Infrastructure, is with the TSC, so all the employees who are working from home, we've had to come up with our unit to be able to provide that type of support. When the Member was mentioning about some of the fees, that's where we incurred a lot of the fees in terms of Infrastructure.

To date, we are about $1.2 million, and the majority of that cost, over a million of it, is having to do with the TSC and providing that type of support for all of our employees. The other part that we look at, as well, is all our capital projects. We've had a team meeting with our colleagues in the Department of Finance who manage the capital planning process. We have a group that meets every two weeks that looks at all the capital projects that are going across the Northwest Territories, and we feel we're in a fairly good position right now. They meet every two weeks and come back to us with a report. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Madam Chair. With respect to the projects, have you looked at whether they can be delivered on time? You probably have a timeline for them, and I just want to know that because I want to make sure that contractors that are out there know what is going to happen, and I think it's important to them for their survival. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Minister.

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Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Yes, we have been. One of the things that Joe and his team have been doing is creating a matrix of all of our projects that we have and applying a sort of risk assessment, is the right word for it, a ranking system of a red, yellow, and green, and then there are columns as well that look at what are the potential delays, where are the pinch points, so, if this project doesn't go ahead by this point, it's now going to be delayed, so that they're aware of where all of those critical moments are for project life.

We have, like I said, a red, yellow, green tiered system. Obviously, green is on track, ready to go, good to go, funded, and all the way to red, where we may be waiting for funding or we may think it's not going to be able to be done because of, perhaps, community backlash or not wanting to have southern or outside of their community people in. It's not just necessarily southern workers, it's often just workers from within the NWT. That's all happening.

I recognize that contractors are probably a little bit in the dark as far as what is going to go ahead and what is not, but that is part of the conversation that we are continuing to have. I do understand, and I shouldn't say that because I do believe the department has been very much back-and-forth with a lot of the contractors. Letters went out very early on to talk with the different ones that were already contracted and set to go ahead this summer to have those conversations with them, were they seeing economic hits to their companies, where they felt like maybe they weren't going to be able to produce or deliver the product. All of that kind of work and triaging of our projects has been ongoing since basically COVID hit. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.