Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Force is a strong word. We certainly strongly encourage boards and agencies to partake in the training that we offer.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As indicated in my opening comments, we are taking over health leases in the Northwest Territories. It’s a significant amount of lease space and responsibility.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As far as costs on that, I don’t have the specific details right in front of me, but I can promise to get that to the Member. We could also, because we know what the transportation costs are, and we know what the purchasing costs are, and we know what the criteria are for the communities, we can get the detail on the specific communities as far as what it’s costing us to get the fuel there, which is part of the information we use to determine the price of fuel per community. We can get that information for the Member and committee.

I understand the importance of regional autonomy and I completely get what the Member is saying. I will commit to doing the work. I will commit to working with my colleagues and try to identify positions that may be appropriate to move.

I do express caution. We don’t want to necessarily rip positions out of one community and effect their employment rates in that community just to stick them in another community. We have to look at positions that are coming on line, positions that are maybe new to the Government of the Northwest Territories to make sure that we have a solid balance. But to the...

Much of that information that I think the Member is looking for is within each department and their capital needs assessments. We provide technical advice, and when a build is required, we facilitate the build using the policies, procedures and the practices that exist within Public Works and Services. But for the actual plan, you’d probably need to get the specifics from each department.

We’ve already done a significant amount of work. We’re going to be doing a significant amount of work through 2013-2014. We hope to have a design ready for the 2014-2015 business plan so we can implement in that fiscal year.

Thank you. Just going back to the previous question, just for the record, Public Works and Services actually chairs that interdepartmental committee with respect to granular supply, but it is absolutely a partnership.

With respect to the Fort Good Hope water supply, I’ve had the opportunity to travel into Fort Good Hope with the Member and meet with the leadership there, and that was certainly a question that was brought up. I believe that work is being done on that with the community on behalf of MACA and, as with anybody in the Northwest Territories, we’re absolutely happy and willing to give...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We’re always looking for ways to reduce the cost of fuel in the communities. We’re always looking for the lowest priced vendor. We’re open to exploring options for delivery. For some of our communities, we do a fuel barge. We’re always looking for creative solutions to reduce our costs, be it where the fuel comes from might help us reduce the costs.

As far as subsidies, some concerns about that because if we put in a subsidy within PPD itself, the difference would have to come out of the revolving fund. If we start taking money out of the revolving fund in one area, it...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently, there are Public Works and Services staff in the Sahtu region.

This information is going to be available in the public report. It will be by consumption, but also by price, so that both of those pieces of information are there. The Member is right. I mean, consumption is one thing but prices vary, as we’ve seen with electricity here in the Northwest Territories as of late. That information will be in the public report for committee and for the public to review at large.