All right. Anything related to MTS, we'll speak to it once we're done this.

[Microphone turned off]

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. I'll put you on the list first when we get to the next. Are there further questions in relation to regional operations on pages 239 to 242? Seeing that there are no further questions, please turn to page 240. Infrastructure, regional operations, operations expenditure summary, 2020-2021 Main Estimates, $210,146,000. Does committee agree?

All right. Now, we will move on, starting on page 243, and I'll read off the title. If people have questions to that, once we get to it. The first one is on page 243-244, technology service centre. Are there questions related to that? No questions. Moving on, Public Stores Revolving Fund on page 245. If there are no questions on that, I will move on to page 246, Petroleum Products Revolving Fund. Questions in relation to that? Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. If you look at the bottom of the page itself, this fund is in a deficit of a lot of money. What is going on? Why does this fund have such a large accumulated deficit, $1 million? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That has to do with the fuel delivery issues of a few years back. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. If I go back to 2018-2019, it is still at an $850,000 deficit. I'm trying to remember; was that after the fuel delivery problem? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do believe that it is still an impact of the missed year and having to fly fuel in. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thanks, Madam Chair. If I understand it, the purpose of this was to -- I'm just looking at the top of the page, of course, as well -- try to stabilize the price of fuel in communities and so on. Right now, at one point, you could take a barrel of oil and somebody would pay you $37 to actually take it away. How do we use this fund in a way that tries to stabilize the price for our communities and takes advantage of when oil was really low there for a while? Are we that nimble or quick that we could actually use this money in a way to bring down the cost of fuel in our communities? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The fund was set up through the Revolving Funds Act to provide working capital to finance the inventory, the accounts receivable, and the operating expenses required for the distribution of petroleum products. The idea is that the fund would then stabilize prices for the communities. It can significantly fluctuate, so by providing these flexibilities for these pricing guidelines approved by the financial management board and the ability to seek approval for pricing outside the guidelines, in the event of extreme or unforeseen changes in the cost, that's how we end up stabilizing the prices. The variance between the budget from which the components of the fuel prices are charged are based on the actual results. That's why we see a difference there. I am just going to ask if Dr. Dragon has anything that he would like to add to that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Dr. Dragon.

Thank you, Dr. Dragon. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I am just trying to figure this out. The day when Texas crude went to negative $37 a barrel, could we actually buy enough on the stock market so that we could give away fuel in the communities? Could we bulk purchase that far in advance? Can we store the stuff somewhere? I have no sense of how this actually works. If the witnesses need to go back and get somebody else to help them answer that, I am fine with getting an answer later. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We are currently looking to improve our volume, our capacity of storage for fuel, and we have made some applications for funding for that. I will commit to coming back to the Member with some more information at a later time. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Are there any further questions on the Petroleum Products Revolving Fund? Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just going off of what Kevin was saying: what analysis was completed with respect to purchasing the petroleum products at the best possible price? Have we looked at not only taking the fuel down the Mackenzie, but also coming around the coast? I think we talked about rack price before, and I think that price there can go anywhere, depends where you're buying it, from 15 cents up to whatever. I am just wondering: what analysis and how much work did this department actually put into it? Thank you, Madam Chair.