Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The debt that is held by the Power Corporation that is on our books is what is called self-liquidating. They generate revenues and pay it down. While it’s on our balance sheet and goes against our borrowing limit, they are generating the revenue to pay down the debt.

To the Member’s point, there have been discussions and to this point the federal government is not willing to remove or separately treat the Power Corporation or the Housing Corporation or even the bridge, which are in similar circumstances, of having revenue that would pay down the debt that is on our books...

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, it would be nice to be able to announce that we are starting the 17th Legislative Assembly with a booming economy and enough fiscal resources to make all the strategic investments we need to further strengthen the economy.

Such is not the case. We have recently weathered one recessionary storm and another one is looming. While our economy is showing some signs of recovery, stimulus spending has left us with limited funds for new programs and services. As we approach the federally imposed borrowing limit, we have little room left to adjust for revenue or expenditure...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The school in Aklavik would have to go through, at this point, the normal process in a very competitive environment with a limited amount of money. I appreciate the Member’s comment in that the terms of what’s going to happen in February, in February we will be doing an interim appropriation, which will be giving us as a government enough money to do business so that we can do the final budget debate and approval in May/June. The business planning process is now currently underway and we will be, right after Christmas, engaging fully with committees on reviewing all...

Thank you. What we as a territorial government can justify is the $60 million that we’ve put into alternative energy, the work we’ve done with our Greenhouse Gas Strategy, the work we’ve done in the areas of biomass, wind, geothermal, hydro, the work that we will have done and will continue to do in those areas. The construction standards, the attempts to look at efficiencies across the North. So we are a northern jurisdiction and we recognize we have a heavy reliance on fossil fuels, but we are doing things that I think are very progressive and I have no trouble speaking to those. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I can recollect back over the years when Colville Lake… They moved out to Colville Lake because they wanted a traditional community with minimal trappings of civilization. Clearly, as we have been there over the years, there has been a growing concern about the fact of having some of those amenities. We are working on that.

There is, in fact – and I will ask Mr. Guy to confirm this – money and work being set up to deal with the actual infrastructure requirements to improve on the honey bucket system and to put in those types of amenities, but there is also another piece...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to rise today to pay tribute, as well, to a constituent on the recent achievements of this constituent. That constituent is Dr. Curtis Brown, who is with us in the gallery today. He is an educator that has spent 23 years or so working between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, mainly in the Northwest Territories and mainly his time as superintendent of the South Slave Divisional Education Council.

In that capacity, Dr. Brown has provided innovative leadership. His leadership over the years has been recognized in the North by the Government of the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The actual money that was put towards renovating and updating and retrofitting government facilities was substantially less than the $15 million a year overall that we tried to put to the various alternative energy priorities. If you look at the actual number, which Mr. Guy could probably provide, the savings that we are realizing and the payback times are actually quite significant. The payback times are short. The savings for the amount of money we’ve spent I think are fairly good. If we get an adjustment to our borrowing limit, then we will be collectively, as I’ve...

Thank you, Madam Chair. In point of fact, we do have and will be going into our last year of a $75 million bump-up that we got because of the Deh Cho Bridge impacts. The budget shortly after division was very close to $1 billion. I’d have to commit or ask Mr. Aumond if he knows the detail of the $500 million as a loan limit, but that’s been there, to my recollection, for a good number of years. I’d ask Mr. Aumond. He’s indicated that he doesn’t have that information with him, so I’ll commit to get that information for the committee.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We have with us today Deputy Minister Mike Aumond from Finance, Deputy Minister Russ Neudorf from Transportation, and Deputy Minister Paul Guy from Public Works and Services. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table to the following document, entitled “Northwest Territories Capital Estimates 2012-2013.”