Louis Sebert

I can't speak for MACA, but I believe the way that assessments are usually done is that there's a division between land and buildings. For example, if you receive an assessment for taxation purposes from your municipality, there's a breakdown showing how much is assessed for the land and how much is for the building. I believe that's the way that MACA does it, but the Minister may know more about that than I do.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have mentioned previously, lessees are charged assessed value of land, and on the territorial lands it's 10 per cent of appraised value. Now, I don't know the method which MACA uses to arrive at these assessments, but I think there's a scientific way in which they do arrive at the assessments of the property. Of course, on that assessment is based the lease fees. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to give some background as to this matter. The original contract, or the contract that was entered into between Virdi Power and the Power Corporation, was in 2015. That original signed contract for was $3.4 million, and that's United States dollars. It was later increased to $3.6 million when a tie breaker module was added under a change order. Now, of course, we did not receive the generators on time. In fact, they were almost two years late. I did mention earlier in this House that had been a pre-payment, an initial progress payment to the corporation. That...

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to update this House on our government's progress in advancing our mandate commitments for increasing government transparency and accountability.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce today our government's release of an Open Government Policy. The Open Government Policy was developed based on input we received from Northwest Territories residents through a public engagement campaign, as well as collaboration with GNWT departments and research on open government initiatives in other jurisdictions. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Government Operations...

I wish I could give the assistance or the assurance requested by the Member opposite. As I say, we are expecting to be over the expected budget on this project, which frankly is not unusual in contractual situation, but ultimately I suppose it would be up to the Public Utilities Board to determine whether these additional costs would be passed on to ratepayers. Thank you.

As I mentioned earlier, there was a set-off, so money for the costs that were incurred by the late delivery of the first three generators was recovered. There are going to be ongoing costs. That is acknowledged. Our expectation, however, is that the overall original or the expected budget of $8 million will be exceeded by about $500,000. We are looking into whether we can recover additional funds from Virdi Power, but as I mentioned earlier, that is a complex issue. If there is litigation, we would have to look at the cost and time that that might take, and in fact which jurisdiction it would...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Fort Smith Town Councillor Rashmi Patel from the Thebacha riding. Thank you.

Certainly, I would be prepared to meet with committee to discuss this. I know that the numbers involved are complex, partially because some of the contract was initially in United States dollars, so it was necessary to get some information as to what that approximated in Canadian dollars. Certainly, I would be willing to meet with committee. As I say, we are looking at the possibilities of taking legal action, but we have to look also at the time and complexity of such legal action and also which jurisdiction such legal action would be commenced in. Certainly, I would like to meet with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents entitled "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 138-18(3) and Oral Question 144-18(3): Rental Office Wait Times in the NWT"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 150-18(3): Proposed Access to Information and Protection Privacy Legislation"; and "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 186-18(3): Perimeter Fence Repair at North Slave Correctional Complex." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Power Corporation, of course, is a publicly regulated utility, so there is the necessity of filing each year or each time there is an increase in front of the PUB, so the process is quite open and transparent. In addition to that, we file annual budgets, capital and operating annual financial performance, and a corporate plan, which will now include a 20-year strategic plan, so the corporation is quite open. We did appear in front of committee and would be prepared to do so again if required or if asked.