Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just briefly I want to just draw Members’ attention up and away from this specific issue that is on the table and just remind everybody about our fiscal circumstances, similar to what Mr. Menicoche was talking about.

We have a very modest capital budget, a very rigorous process that takes a great deal of patience and hard work to get projects on from across the North. It’s a process that everybody watches very carefully. We also are dealing with a project – I want to mention this project again – of the Stanton Hospital that is going to be the biggest capital project we...

We have to look at the consolidated public accounts process as part of the overall budgeting process where we do business plans, we do reviews, main estimates, and where we spend a full year either getting ready for the budget or cleaning up after the budget and then having a short, very, very short pause before we renew that process.

Once again, we have skilled, trained staff. We have qualified managers and we now have, of course, this clear political direction from this body, from the government, that public accounts have to be paid attention to and it has to be given its due. We are doing...

This is a process that has some history to it now, as I’ve indicated in my previous answer. I’ve taken this on, along with the deputy minister of Finance, as a critical issue. It’s been pointed out clearly by the Auditor General that we were lacking in this area and we acknowledged that. So, we have the political commitment. We have been working with all of the boards and agencies and government departments to make sure that they know that there is an emphasis on this particular function and that these reports have to get done. We’ve met with chairs and board presidents to make sure that they...

Thank you. When net metering was initially looked at, the focus was to entice and encourage folks in the thermal community, where the costs are very, very significantly higher than the hydro zone. We’ve built this array of supports, but the issue of the taxation, of loans, those types of things have not been considered. We have to wait and see how it works in the hydro zone where we’ll, in effect, be exchanging one type of renewable energy for another as opposed to the thermal zone where we know we’re going to be replacing diesel with solar or wind, whatever other alternative energy is used...

Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to update Members on our fiscal situation and discuss some of the things we are looking forward to in the near-term.

Two years ago this Assembly created a plan to restore fiscal balance after years of stimulus spending and deficits, and to provide resources

required to tackle our $3 billion infrastructure deficit. I am happy to report today that the plan is on track. We have constrained spending growth, reduced short-term borrowing, and achieved an increase in our borrowing limit. As a result, we have kept our promise made in February’s budget to...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the Member’s comments. I just want to point out that the prior year’s budget was $171.025 million. This year is $254.118 million, so we are not quite at $300 million. So we have added to the budget, but we do, as all Members recognize, have a very rigorous process. Over the years that has been tailored to try to deal with this because it is such an important issue and there are not a lot of resources, and that need for comfort, both to the public we represent and to the Members, that we have as fair and balanced a system as possible in trying to make the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the Member for his comments. The Ministers are now clearly on notice that as they come to this table in the coming weeks, to be able to answer questions in regard to the rationale for projects as posed by yourself.

I appreciate your recognition of the projects in the Sahtu. I well remember the times we spent getting started on a long-term care facility, for example.

Deline hydro, the intent, as the Member is aware, is to work with the community for the next fiscal year to conclude the studies that are required and then we would be able to make a full and...

Thank you, Madam Chair. This budget is entirely in keeping with the plan we laid out at the start of the 17th Assembly, and I think we collectively should recognize how much work we’ve done to get to the point where we could actually put in an extra $50 million a year over the next two years, the last two years of this government, to do a number of additional projects and deal with opportunities that occur like the Tuk-Inuvik highway where there is $200 million, basically for us 30 cent dollars, and the opportunity to put in a piece of much needed infrastructure in the part of the territory...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have with me Mr. Mike Aumond, deputy minister of Finance; Mr. Russ Neudorf, deputy minister of Transportation; and Mr. Paul Guy, deputy minister of Public Works and Services. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here to present the 2014-15 Capital Estimates of the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The estimates outline appropriations for government and infrastructure contributions of $193 million and $29 million respectively, in the 2014-15 fiscal year.

The estimates, however, do not include appropriations for housing infrastructure proposed by the NWT Housing Corporation in 2014-15, totaling $31 million. The appropriation for these investments will be sought during committee’s review of the 2014-15 Main Estimates. The NWT Housing Corporation’s proposed 2014-15...