Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d have to ask the Member to repeat the question since I didn’t hear what it was.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think it’s relatively easy to decide if there’s a market disruption. There is, first of all, no current space available in Inuvik, and for the second reason, we are planning to accommodate people who we are currently housing in our own facilities that are not up to the standards that are spelled out. Most of our buildings, including the Perry Building, which we need to be out of, do not have barrier free access, do not meet GNWT office space standards. They are not energy efficient; they do not promote environmental sustainability; they have air problems. We can’t...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a real significant issue for us, and it has been for some time. We need proper office accommodations for the employees in Inuvik. We don’t have very many government facilities in the community; 93 per cent of our portfolio is leased.

It’s starting to be a challenge now that we can’t identify any new facilities to move to. We have certainly a large number of issues with the Perry Building. There’s a possibility we may be evicted. MACA is housed in an old federal government warehouse. It’s 45 years old. We have air quality concerns. We have security issues with...

Mr. Chairman, I’m not the Minister of Finance, but I’d like to think that anything’s possible.

The Member is quite correct that the Department of Public Works has identified this project as a priority for renovation to address major deferred maintenance issues. The problem is the project has not proceeded through the planning study phase that the ECE is currently undertaking. They’re doing the functional program review, and I’m sure they’ll be coming back with a certain number of program enhancements for this project.

Given that that work is not expected to be completed until sometime this fall...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member raised a very important concern that we are currently reviewing as part of our committee that looks at the infrastructure process. Allowing projects to move along quickly is something that we certainly need to incorporate in our planning. Moving the capital approval process into the fall session is part of that.

We have had some discussion for quite a few years with the community, with the other departments involved, trying to bring this to a conclusion. This is not the first estimate that was provided to us. We had the community involved that brought forward...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I indicated earlier in my response to investment in the Sahtu, we’ve been trying to really offset some of the pressures that are being brought into that area by resource development, by the oil and gas industry, and trying to make the winter road more accommodating to the local traffic. We have targeted 42 bridges that are needed in the Sahtu region. We think we are in a position to do at least 41 of them.

We did have the Great Bear River Bridge as part of the projects that were listed under the strategic investment dollars. The budget line for that project was at...

Mr. Chair, the dollar amount on the money that has been earmarked for research and development is actually $1.8 million over the life of the Building Canada Fund. We have a number of areas that we are interested in. We have criteria that we have to meet, and some of the criteria require us to look at climate change issues and environmental issues. It also gives us the ability to do the research. We have looked at and are considering some dollars to be awarded to the Aklavik Steering Committee that is doing some work pending that we move forward to some satisfactory conclusion and start to nail...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to say that there has been some significant focus in the area of the Sahtu, the Member’s riding, for some time now and for all the reasons that he’s listed, including the short time frame where the communities can access the south for shopping or visiting or things of a personal nature. There’s also the consideration among the communities in the Sahtu to be able to have the communities connected during the winter months so they can travel back and forth.

We have been focusing some considerable investment through the strategic infrastructure initiatives. We’ve...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, I should point out that the description used by the Members of this House to describe our roads is a little unfair. Our roads are all considered to be safe. We may have a few potholes and not open year round, but we have different categories of roads. We have winter roads, gravel roads, roads that have chipseal. They all require investment.

I think everybody in this House recognizes that most of our transportation infrastructure and highway system is at the point where it needs to be reconstructed. They need to have investment and investment dollars that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled GNWT Response to CR 2-16(2): Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Auditor General’s Performance Audit of the NWT Housing Corporation. Thank you.

Document 106-16(2), GNWT Response to CR 2-16(2): Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Auditor General’s Performance Audit of the NWT Housing Corporation, tabled.