Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m here to present Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2012-2013. This document provides for an increase of $11.390 million for capital investment expenditures in the 2012-2013 fiscal year. Major items in this supplementary estimate include:

$1 million to report a special warrant approved on December 14, 2012, for the Department of Transportation to complete reconstruction of the Nahanni Butte access road that was damaged during the flood in June 2012;

a transfer of $5.3 million from operations expenditures for the Department of Transportation...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We’re doing work across the Northwest Territories as it pertains to renewable energy. In the Beaufort-Delta, we’re looking at helping Inuvik deal with their gas situation, and one of the more immediate focuses is on the potential of liquid natural gas. At the same time, we are still examining the opportunities that exist at Storm Hills between Inuvik and Tuk as it pertains to some options and potential for some world-class wind development there. Those are two areas that we’re looking at, where you would be able to run lines to Tuk once the road is in. The other thing...

Thank you. There are no glaciers up there that I’m aware of. The reason we know what we do is because we’ve taken the time and we’ve spent some good, wisely invested money up front to do the estimating. We’ve started way back, many years ago, with a very rough estimate, and we’ve finalized it and fine-tuned it to the point where we came forward with confidence that we could do it for $299 million. So we spent $12 million getting ready to make that determination.

Yes.

Mr. Speaker, I move seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 4, Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 2013-2014, be read for the first time.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If I could get the indulgence of the Member to repeat it, please.

Yes, Madam Chair, we have a contingency built into the project, but clearly the cost overruns would be the responsibility of the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

So out of the $60 million, $40 million will be coming from the federal government. Okay, got it right. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would point out, as I have numerous times in the past, that, in fact, what we spend on dealing with problems related to alcohol abuse dwarfs what little money we make selling it, in terms of health, social services, education, justice and housing.

Yes, we will have the discussion in a forum where we can, in fact, have a discussion in the House. I do acknowledge that we are prepared to do that and we’ll talk specifically about the Member’s suggestion, and what other suggestions may be there if it’s done with a broader committee and as well as the folks from the Liquor Commission...

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is a complex, large-scale project over very challenging terrain. There are a lot of risks and we’re concerned about all of them. Our job is to identify them, mitigate them, manage our way through them, and take all the steps necessary in getting the project done within budget to be aware of what those risks are so that we can move forward in a careful, planned way. I’ll ask the deputy if he wants to add anything further.