Madam Chair, we own the lot that the Tapwe Building was on previously. We are using that property and the property that we obtained where there used to be an old church. We obtained those properties, so we are responsible for, and the price of taking down the Tapwe Building, decommissioning it, disposing of it, is included in this budget.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m listening closely and I believe we are wanting to get to the same place, the Member and I. I think we have slightly different opinions on how to get there.

This department and the government are focusing on supporting the demand, helping to create demand. We are becoming purchasers of pellet boilers and other biomass product on a regular basis.

The Department of Public Works and Services is an active member participating on the development of a Biomass Strategy. We are focusing much of our investment on actually utilizing the product and creating demand in the...

For this budget the fund is $1.2 million, which is up significantly from last year. These dollars, as I’ve explained in the past, are based on savings that we’ve received from putting different assets and doing different projects. We expect and hope this fund will continue to grow, and the money for this fund is purely from savings.

We do have some breakdowns of some previous year work. The current year work hasn’t been completely finalized, and that will help build the fund for the previous year.

I will commit to getting the Member and committee a breakdown of the types of activities we’ve...

I’m not sure where that particular number of the market comes from, or the GNWT’s construction. We build a wide variety of types of buildings. Speciality buildings have different costs than other more generalized buildings. I do have to say that this building is being built to a high standard. We have certain codes within the GNWT that we, as a government, have already accepted as far as building practices, efficiencies. This is going to be a state-of-the-art building. We have gone out for an open competition. We have gone to the market and these are the prices that have come in. We are...

Certainly it is an interesting idea. I will talk to the department. I will talk to the TSC to find out what might be the best way to make sure that people have information and people understand that there is product available should they choose, and where we go from there, certainly address them working with communities and schools to get those products out to them.

Thank you, Madam Chair. It would purely be my opinion, but as MLA for the Northwest Territories I have constantly and I will always be a supporter of the arts. When the Member asked similar questions about office space before, I agreed to work closely with Education, Culture and Employment and I will continue to work with Education, Culture and Employment and ITI, who have roles in supporting arts in the Northwest Territories. I think the Member’s suggestion that office space might be a reasonable place to support northern artists, I think that’s certainly an interesting idea and that’s why we...

Thank you, Madam Chair. With me today is Paul Guy, the deputy minister of Public Works and Services.

I will ask that the chair go to Deputy Minister Guy, who has actually some specifics that address the questions Mr. Dolynny has just asked. We do those types of things and auction wasn’t really the right term. We have stuff in our warehouse that’s available to be acquired once it’s gone through any other means of disposal. Thank you.

In no way have we committed to this project. We have indicated that we are certainly willing to look at all options that save the government money over time, and if they present a business case that is a saving or even comparable to what we are going to be saving through our new building and the energy efficiencies we are putting in that building, including our biomass system in that building, if the price is comparable, we would certainly be interested in talking, but there is zero commitment at this point. There is nothing to the city saying that we’re committed to this project. We haven’t...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled Additional Information for GNWT Response to Committee Report 1-17(3) to Review the NWT Information and Privacy Commissioner’s 2010-2011 Annual Report.