Floyd Roland

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the question of the role of Municipal and Community Affairs and the Housing Corporation when it comes to lands, the Municipal and Community Affairs’ role in land development is one that is responsible for administration and control of Commissioner’s land in the Northwest Territories. It involves transferring land in fee-simple title or through lease arrangements to community governments, or to the Housing Corporation to be made available for residential use. Land development would be the area of subdivisions, whether it be residential, commercial or...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, what I've been saying for a number of responses now, the community has been involved in this process. Initially we tried to accommodate the request of the community to stick to a renovation rather than going to a new facility. But all our work, the accountant looked at the value of dollars spent and the lifespan of the facility; going new is the best method to use. Yes, like I said, the department has now made the decision that they'll go to a new facility. As a government, if we say it will be a leased facility, we can go out there for space and...

Thank you, Madam Chair and colleagues. I am pleased to introduce Bill 2, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 1, 2006-2007. This bill requests authority for additional appropriations of $69.246 million for operations expenditures and $45.411 million for capital investment expenditures in the 2006-2007 fiscal year.

Major items included in this request for operations expenditures are as follows:

$33.4 million for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to continue to flow contribution funding to community governments pursuant to the community capacity building initiative. These...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The requirement for the upgrades that we’re requesting here would be to allow the occupancy of all those that are presently in that facility. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Madam Chair. It is from our own source. That’s why we’re voting it in in this manner. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as for the planning and how it got through to this stage, the client department would have to probably best answer that. The square footage, I would have to come back with that number. I know we have it, I just don’t have that level of detail with me. The information I’m provided is the existing renovation estimates based on an estimate done in 2004 is $12 million. That’s for the facility as it is. To replace the facility with the same size as being used and occupied right now with government and non-government occupants, is the $20 million. For just GNWT...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The over-expenditure of $230,000 within the Department of Transportation, as I stated in my opening comments, was due to the fact that we had an unseasonably warm winter, which the department on a normal basis would have budgeted for salt materials and materials for runways to keep them clear, as well as keep the runways safer for planes landing as well. For winter roads, it took more maintenance to keep them operating as long as they did and that was the reason for the over-expenditure. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the new facility would have to incorporate the Dehcho Education Council, Education, Culture and Employment’s regional office, Aurora College program delivery administration, the Department of Justice and the community wellness worker. The other occupant of the building would be the community library, the Multimedia Society, cultural centre, day care and Fort Simpson Historical Society. They would not be housed in a new facility. I don’t have the exact square footage. It would not be the same size, as a lot of the building right now is unoccupied because...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have to correct a pretty fundamental thing here. I had referenced that these would be going forward. In fact, they are tied to a three-year strategy. So it isn’t ongoing. A big correction there. Looking at our information here it is, in fact, tied to the program. So it would lapse at that time. If there are further programs that bring more dollars to the North, then that would be reviewed and brought back to this forum. So that is the situation that the request is going forward for. So it would be tied to the three-year strategy. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in discussions with the fire marshal’s office, the minimum amount of upgrade required if we only intend to use the building for another two to four years is what’s been identified. If we intend to use it beyond that timeline, then we have to upgrade the rest of the code requirements that are put in place, and that’s where we get into the $12 million figure. To meet the minimum requirements that we have been directed to, we’re looking at the $3.5 million. So ultimately it’s if we were going to go beyond the two to four years, then we’re going to have to...