Wendy Bisaro

I don’t think I heard an answer to my question, so I guess school boards are looking forward to reductions in 2015-16 and they aren’t going to get anything back for at least another two or three years.

The Premier referenced surpluses and he referenced the need for particularly the two boards in Yellowknife to use up their surpluses. There are other boards with surpluses. I’d like to ask the Premier if the need to use up surplus to deal with the funding shortfall because of the reductions that are happening, is the need to use up surpluses the same for every education authority or is he looking...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Premier and I want to follow up on some questions that my colleague Mr. Dolynny asked earlier following up on the statement of the Premier today. I want to, at the outset, indicate that I am very pleased and was pleased to hear the statement from the Premier. It is good news. But one of the things Mr. Dolynny asked had to do with funding and the funding ongoing. The Premier indicated in one of his answers that there were funding reductions for education authorities in this fiscal year, 2014-15, that there would be reductions in...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that consideration of Tabled Document 154-17(5), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2014-2015, be now concluded and that Tabled Document 154-17(5) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill. Thank you.

AANDC has agreed, as well, to change the project time frame from perpetuity to 100 years and to investigate and report on long-term funding options. The acceptance of the AANDC Minister for the recommendations in the MVEIRB report confirm the public wishes and they signified a major change from the proposed remediation plan for Giant. That acceptance was due in no small part to the work of Kevin O’Reilly.

One Yellowknifer has commented, “Kevin really deserves widespread and heartfelt recognition for achieving the deal on Giant. It wouldn’t have happened without his initiative and tireless work...

Okay. I had to think about that. We’ve passed the ’15-16 infrastructure budget. So I guess it’s just anybody looking at it from the outside would have a difficult time following these numbers. I guess it would help, I don’t know if it’s allowed, but I guess it would certainly help if that explanation was included in the text that we have on this page. It would certainly make it easier to understand.

My other question has to do with the transfer, and there are a couple of them in this budget, the transfer of federal buildings to us from devolution and we’re accounting for these. I’d like to know...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a couple of questions here. The first one has to do with the funding for the construction of a geological collection storage facility. I see we’re being asked to approve $500,000. I don’t have any problem with this project, but I recall from our discussion of the operations expenditures that under the Executive there is a negative amount of $4.206 million for the same thing to re-profile expenditures for the construction of a geological collection storage facility. So these two numbers don’t jibe and I’d like to know where the extra $3.7 million is going to be if...

Thank you, Minister, for that. Maybe the Minister doesn’t see it this way, but I get the sense that the contractor is running us and that the contractor is telling us I need to change my schedule and it’s going to cost you an extra whatever, $20,000 or $30,000, but it doesn’t seem as though the government is in control of, not the contract per se, but the way the contract is being managed. I suspect that the government would disagree with me, but I am saying this is the perception that I get, this is the feeling that I get. We are bending over backwards to do what the contractor wants us to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to say at the outset – and I’m speaking of the Inuvik to Tuk Highway Project – that I support this project but I have serious concerns about the ask that we’re being asked to consider here in this budget. That’s the $40 million change in cash flow to accommodate the new construction schedule and timetable that has been put before us.

I expressed my concerns the other day. Our cash position is going to require us to do some borrowing that’s going to add to our expenses. It seems to me that this is being done with little regard for our fiscal strategy and our fiscal...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We wish to continue with Tabled Document 154-17(5), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2014-15, and, time permitting, Tabled Document 115-17(5), NWT Capital Estimates, Department of Transportation and, if we finish that, then Bill 33. Thank you, Mr. Chair.