Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Madam la Presidente. I move that consideration of Tabled Document 88319(2), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 20232024, be now concluded and that Tabled Document 88319(2) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill. Mahsi, Madam Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course I'm not talking about the P3 policy; I'm talking about the fiscal responsibility policy where debt servicing should come into play, whether it's P3 debt as well, and it should include that. And although the Minister doesn't think there's active concern, I've been raising this in the House for seven years. So I'm very concerned that the Minister and the department appear to be ready to make changes to this policy without bothering to engage the public, and the Minister herself spoke about how they engaged the credit...

Thanks, Madam Chair. So what's the Deh Cho money actually going to be used for? Thanks, Madam Chair. And will it actually result in the Horn Plateau area being permanently protected? I guess that's my underlying question. Thanks.

Okay, thanks, Madam Chair. So I'm just yeah, so this was done as a P3, and was there any other way for us to I guess we could have contracted this rather than do it as a P3 or something and, you know, why did the and I know I'm putting the Minister in a difficult position because she wasn't even here when these decisions were made. But would this have been any cheaper if this had been done just as a regular procurement? You know, we contract somebody to do it rather than as a P3; like it's more than double the original cost. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Yeah, I guess I lost my mind, but okay, is any of this offset by federal money, and how much? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. It never fails to amaze me sometimes the things I can learn in oral questions, that the credit rating agencies were consulted but okay, that's all good.

In my statement, I noted that the fiscal responsibility policy has failed to keep our debt from growing at greater than inflation, that there are no consequences for noncompliance. Can the Minister tell us what changes will be made to the fiscal responsibility policy? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks. I'm probably straying a little bit far here but what was the original projected operating surplus then for 20222023?

Thanks, Madam Chair. So what was the original sort of cost estimate? Thank you.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I move that consideration of Tabled Document 88219(2), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 20222023, be now concluded and that Tabled Document 88219(2) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill. Mahsi, Madam Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. In the Finance Minister's budget address on February 8th, 2023, there was mention of a review of the fiscal responsibility policy. She said, quote, last summer, we evaluated this policy and its requirement that at least half of GNWT capital investments is financed by the operating surplus to ensure that it still is effective in meeting our debt management principles. We've already started changes in the reporting on the future debt implications in this budget, and in short order, we will be revising the fiscal responsibility policy to help decision makers better...