Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is the second of several very costly events. We’ve still to deal with the third one, the Mackenzie River water levels and what that’s costing us. But this is the third event that is completely consistent and in line with the impacts and consequences of climate change. In the space of a few minutes here we’ve been discussing now $67,411 million. Sorry, it’s a little bit more than that. Twenty million, it’s actually more than $20 million. These are very serious numbers that we’ll be looking at today and in the future.

When we talk about a reduced cushion of $92 million...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, at the end of the three years, would we be going out for a competition on this contract?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess, am I correct in hearing in that answer that this will not be put out for competition in the future?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Am I right in believing that this is an extension of a past, I believe, three-year contract, and if so, was that provided for in the original contract and when would this go out for RFP for competition to see if we could reduce this cost?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’m wondering what incremental cost actually refers to on the implementation of the three-year Education Renewal and Innovation Action Plan.

Indeed we have, Mr. Speaker. We in this House all swore an oath to uphold the 10 principles of consensus government. Principle number five states, “Except under extraordinary circumstances, Members of the Legislative Assembly should be made aware of and have an opportunity to discuss significant announcements, changes, consultations or initiatives before they are released to the public or introduced in the Legislative Assembly. Use of the element of surprise is inconsistent with consensus government.”

Is Cabinet aware of this guiding principle? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for Premier McLeod, following up on my statement from earlier today on related issues.

Recently, Cabinet announced that rather than pass on the true cost of power generated by diesel due to the hydro shortfall we are experiencing because of climate-change- induced drought in our hydro-generating system, the government would provide a direct subsidy yet again, this time to the tune of $20 million.

Public Works, of course, is replete with hundreds of examples of reducing energy costs through infrastructure with short payback periods.

Is there an equal...

Thank you. A key feature of this approach must be community participation that accrues benefits to communities. To achieve this, we must invest in community-owned energy systems if we want to build local economies, address cost of living and restore the environment. The time for a serious renewable commitment has come. If not now, when? If not us, who? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I see this supp includes a special warrant, which I appreciate. I think this is an important opportunity, obviously, for us to be commenting on special warrants when they come forward in supps like this. It’s an important opportunity for Members of this House to share their perspectives, and special warrants, as we know, are expenditures that are made on an emergency basis typically almost by definition when it has to be done and we really can’t afford to go through the process of approval at the time, but it does allow a retrospective look at things and public discussion...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just had one question. I see there was quite an increase from our capital estimates last year, I guess, the current year that we’re in, ’14-15, from the figure presented, $329,000 up to almost double, and I’m just wondering if I can get an explanation of what accounts for the increase from $329,000 to $657,000 there.