Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The new data centre is a multi-year contract that has already been awarded. It is a $7.2 million contract. Work is well underway and the project is currently scheduled for completion by September 2010.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, as the Members are aware, we have changed our system in the last few years to become more efficient and have our capital plan delivery more effective. We’re certainly starting to see the results of that. We’ve had a very large capital budget for the last couple of years and it’s been, I think, still proven that we can move these forward. We have a fairly large carry-over. Percentage-wise it’s not as large as what we’ve had historically, but I can confirm to the Member that I think in excess of 90 percent of these projects are signed off, are in the system and...

Mr. Chairman, we have a number of projects that are listed under deferred maintenance that will involve foundation work and pile repair, including the Moose Kerr School. There’s work that’s being carried over from that facility. Also the park visitors centre in Fort McPherson. There’s a retrofit in Whati, the Grand de Tour Apartments need work and the Arctic Family Medical Clinic and nurses’ residence in Inuvik. We’d be happy to provide more information to the Members if they so wish.

Of course, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I believe the final price was a little over $7 million.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We would be pleased to provide the information as to our summary findings to the Members, including any potential projects that we have lined up for this coming year.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Inuvik school project is probably our largest building project that we have in Public Works and Services, at $115 million. We have a carry-over of $21.66 million for this project. This is a result of an accumulation of the budget over several years. As the project was being planned, there was money being built up and now we are expending those dollars. The project is on schedule, is on time and is on budget. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We do have a very large capital budget as we had over the last couple of years. We have managed, through Public Works, $162 million worth of projects. We have status reports including the budget amounts Mr. Krutko is asking about. We could provide an update. We can give the status of each and every project that we have under our responsibilities. We would be glad to do that at any point.

Thank you. I’m assuming the Member is asking about the plate costs, $10, which is required to recover the cost of what it costs to produce it, associated paperwork. There is going to be 30,000 plates that will be replaced and a further 10,000 a year annually. It’s a fee that we are not marking up to recover any, or to make any money on it. Other jurisdictions charge more. For example, B.C. charges $18, Ontario charges $20, and New Brunswick charges $25. So we feel we’re below the national rates or at least on par with other jurisdictions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t believe we’re forcing anybody to buy a new plate. If you need a plate, you’re going to have to pay for it. That’s the cost recovery that’s required for this program, and we can’t keep the old plate because the old plate does not meet industry standards or national standards. The size is not what it’s required to be and there’s also visibility issues with the old plate. There was also the issue of safety. So we are now moving forward as one of the last jurisdictions to do so and we’re meeting the national standards that all other jurisdictions in North America...