Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d like to reassure the Member and point out that we had a $527 million capital plan for last year. We delivered 74 percent of that, almost $400 million. What we’re carrying over is now a shade under $140 million. So I can speak with some considerable certainty that we will get those capital projects on the ground, considering that last year we delivered nearly $400 million worth of capital projects across the North. Delivering this remaining $140 million, roughly, will be done. The infrastructure is there. The supports are there. The mechanisms are there. The...

There are recommendations, for example, of specific sites that are going to be dedicated to medevacs being loaded and unloaded, the recommendation that they somehow synchronize all the streetlights going into Edmonton into the hospital so that when a medevac is on the way it can just be green lighted all the way down. There are those type of recommendations that are there, very specific, that have to be looked at once again by the City of Edmonton and by Alberta Health Services. Of course, we will be there to ensure and encourage them to take every effort to implement all those things that are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are protocols that are fairly standard in terms of how you deal with these type of infestations and when they occur. We become aware of them. We work with building owners or whoever’s necessary, and pest control people, to look at the steps for proper eradication.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a shared responsibility with the federal government. We have a responsibility for those sites that are on Commissioner’s land. The majority of contaminated sites are on federal Crown land. So if the Member has specific questions about those that fall directly within our jurisdiction, we can talk about those in detail.

The broader issue of contaminated sites is one that part of the negotiations for the devolution in taking over of authorities. It’s a significant part of that discussion. As well, one of the concerns, as I’ve indicated earlier, is that we understand...

I’ll refer that question to Minister Michael McLeod.

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

I would hope to have this concluded by the end of June. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’ll, with your indulgence, refer that question to Minister Michael McLeod.

We’ve been doing a lot of work on a P3 policy and that work is coming before us and will be shared with a committee based on the work that’s been done to date, the feedback from committee and it will be that policy that will guide us as we move forward. The Member is correct; the $75 million that we have planned for 2012-13 is very modest, especially when you look at the $1.1 billion that we put on the ground over the last three years. So we’re going to have to use our collective ingenuity and creativity to come up with ways to supplement that. Things like the private/public partnerships are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to, as well, take a few minutes to talk briefly to the principle of this bill, which I consider a very good bill. It is unprecedented in terms of the length of time it’s taken, the amount of work, the amount of money, the amount of effort and the process used to get us to this day. I would like to acknowledge the work, of course, of the working group and the staff of the department who are still working, and in many cases have often worked themselves to near exhaustion because we’re a very small operation and we have some of the best people in the business...