Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we decided to purchase it because the bids that came in were all very low. They were very low. We then purchased the property, and Canada agreed to be responsible for the remediation. Should the price of tungsten ever rise, we are sitting on a piece of property that could potentially be worth a few dollars. That's why the decision was made. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We own that particular piece of property now, so there would be no lease payments in the future.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the financial assurances and liabilities division was established to help manage and coordinate the GNWT's current responsibilities in the modern integrated resource management regime that we have in the NWT. The financial assurances and liabilities division played an advisory role in the water licensing process that happened with North American Tungsten Company Ltd. was going into insolvency. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to my left I have Mr. Mike Aumond, who is the secretary to the Financial Management Board and deputy minister of Finance; to my right I have Mr. Sandy Kalgutkar, who is the deputy secretary to the Financial Management Board.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, much like Giant Mine, Canada has accepted the responsibility to remediate this site as far as the liabilities go. I will work with my Department of Lands, and confirm and have them identify some of the liabilities, and I will share that information with committee. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair, I do. I am here to present Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2015-2016. This document provides for an increase of $4.6 million to the capital budget. This document provides for an increase of $4.6 million to the capital budget. The most significant item is the $4.5 million related to the purchase of mineral claims and leases on the Mactung property pursuant to the North American Tungsten Corporation Limited's insolvency process. This is required in the infrastructure supplementary appropriation due to the principal purchase of the tangible...

Yes, that is correct. We have surface leases for the Cantung Mine.

You have to have money to spend it.

---Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Reclamation Contract and Security Agreement is a contractual arrangement that laid out the provision of how the promissory notes would be progressively converted into cash. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, through the Formula Funding Review, the communities did identify a shortfall in funding that they receive. We are still in the early stages with that, and it's not infrastructure funding, it's actually O and M funding, so we are still in the early stages with that, and we will have to come up with a strategy on how we are going to deal with that as a Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.