Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As we indicated in a previous response, we are talking to the federal government about their commitment to the road, $150 million, and when it could flow and how it would be sequenced to see if we could, in fact, put their money to work as soon as we can while we sort our own circumstances out.

I’ve noted the comments on the schools in YK, but clearly, with a $75 million budget, there are far more needs than we have resources

The small cap budget hasn’t increased, but Health has made the case that there should be a separate amount of money put aside for their very...

As we pursue the work on our borrowing limit, we’re also pursuing our discussions with the federal government about the $150 million. We’re trying to find out what the opportunities are in terms of how that money can flow and can their money flow before it first, as we sort ourselves out. Those type of questions have not yet been finalized. I would once again ask Mr. Neudorf if he has any further detail in addition to our own resources other than the million dollars.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the Member’s comment about the Capital Asset Retrofit Fund. We do have all the particulars at Public Works and Services in terms of the savings and costs and how we plan to move forward with reinvesting that money.

I can tell the Member that pre-division, 1999, the budget for the whole combined Northwest Territories was about a billion dollars. Post-division both budgets very quickly approached a billion dollars each and our current budget is almost $1.3 billion, almost $1.4 billion in total.

With regard to your question about the borrowing limit and when...

Madam Chair, I am here to present for the committee’s consideration the 2012-13 Capital Estimates of the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The estimates outline appropriations for government and community infrastructure investments of $124.2 million in the 2012-13 fiscal year.

The estimates do not include appropriations for housing infrastructure proposed by the NWT Housing Corporation in 2012-13, totalling $13.2 million. The appropriation for these investments will be sought during the review of the 2012-13 Main Estimates. The NWT Housing Corporation’s proposed 2012-13 Capital Plan...

We would be pleased to appear before committee and do a full briefing on the work we’ve done in terms of crossing the North and educating folks on the process, as well as lay out the process, some of the history and some of the questions and concerns that are existing in regard to this process. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we are not at that point in any of our deliberations. We have to work with the federal government to look at that type of issue. There’s still work and research to be done. As I indicated, some jurisdictions to the south of us are using that process. There are a lot of questions and there is work being done and there are meetings, as well, being held across the North by the National Energy Board and ANSI, as well as the Government of the Northwest Territories, especially in the Sahtu, to meet with the communities and individuals to talk about this process and understand the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do appreciate the Member’s comments, and just to reiterate the commitment that should there be a successful conclusion to our borrowing limit talks – and we do have some room to make additional strategic investments – that we collectively will fully engage through our processes to identify the amount of money and how and where it will be targeted.

I will point out for the new Members that they will quickly come to learn how interested and intense the discussion is about capital, given the long list of demands and the always short list of resources. I thank the Member...

Thank you. It appears we’re going to take up where we left off in the 16th Assembly.

I totally disagree and reputed the Member’s allegation that somehow this government, this Assembly is engaged in crimes against humanity. We are doing an enormous amount of good work, not up to the Member’s standards maybe, but very, very progressive work as it pertains to water, as it pertains to mitigation adaptation to climate change, putting significant amounts of money to that, and to put us in the same category as Gbagbo and some of these folks from Serbia and other folks that have been charged over the...

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.