Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’m just wondering, following up on earlier discussions, if we expect the electronics side of things to be paying for itself. Is there an opportunity to generate some revenue aligned with the costs of the program, if we’re that far along in our assessment? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. For that we’ll go to Mr. Campbell.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Going forward, once we have completed the pilot project here and working again with our partners in Alberta, that is the expectation on electronics here, is to establish a program that would pay for itself. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Campbell. Mr. Bromley.
That’s good news. I just want to follow up on one more thing that the Minister has heard about before and that’s our requirement for less than total return on deposits for milk containers. I know the Minister was interested or at least somewhat open to giving a full return so that we’re not discouraging the use of milk as a beverage. Has that been done yet do we know? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My note here says the Milk Container Program was added February 15, 2010.
I think the issue was we don’t want to be discouraging people from drinking milk. This is an added cost to them because they don’t get full return of the deposit. So we thought that this should be one exception where people should actually get full return on deposits that they pay when they return the beverage container for milk. Thank you.
I would say that that’s a goal that has not yet been achieved.
I’ll leave it at that and see if I can get a different response next year at this time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Committee, we’re on 13-40, information item, Environment Fund. Any questions?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Committee, sections 13-41 to 13-46 we’re going to do as one item. It’s an information item, work performed on behalf of others. Any questions? Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I probably missed it, but I’m just wondering what happened to the $1 million for the Biomass Energy Strategy. That’s on page 46, in the middle of page 46. Contributions last year were $1 million, scheduled to be $1.7 million but ended up being $1 million, and the year before that, $1.75 million. This year, zip.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Campbell.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The dollars for the Biomass Strategy, some of those resources were used for the Alternative Energy Technology Program to promote the use of biomass. Some of the resources were used to leverage funding from the federal government to do a number of things in relation to try to get a forest industry going in the Northwest Territories. A good portion, actually, of the resources were used there to develop forest management agreements in the South Slave.
There were some of the dollars also used to promote in other communities in the NWT the use of biomass, such things as martialing yards and purchasing equipment in Fort Resolution, for example, for their small Wood-Mizer there, to get a planer there. There were dollars used in combination with our partnership funding with the federal government for forest inventory work, planning, marketing development, the primary outcome being the forest management agreements, the support to those communities to work with us in developing the agreements. Thank you.
Thank you for that detail. What are the GNWT contributions to the Biomass Energy Strategy?
The GNWT, at this point, has targeted $300,000 for the Biomass Strategy to leverage further funding from Canada. We have a couple of applications in now that we’re hoping will come through and help us again to continue to go and implement our Biomass Strategy and a forest industry in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Campbell. Committee, again, we’re combining page 13-41 and 13-46, information item, worked performed on behalf of others. Any questions?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Seeing none, I’m going to get committee to turn back to page 13-7, Environment and Natural Resources, department summary, operations expenditure summary, $87.528 million. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Does committee agree that consideration of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is completed?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Minister Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As we conclude the Department of ENR, I would just like to ask this Assembly to join with me to thank Ms. Magrum for her years of service. This is her last witness table. That’s her last budget book.
---Laughter
I would just like to thank her for her service. She’s professional, she’s very, very knowledgeable, as you can see, and I’d like you to join me to wish her a very happy retirement. Thank you for your service.
---Applause
Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. I think everyone here would like to echo the same comments. With that, Ms. Magrum, congratulations on your retirement and thank you for your contributions to the House.
Thank you, Mr. Campbell. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort our witnesses out of the Chamber. Thank you.
With that, committee, the Chair will call for a short recess.
---SHORT RECESS
Welcome back, committee. We’re going to continue with the Public Works and Services. With that, we’ll turn the floor to the Minister responsible and ask if he has any opening comments.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to present the Department of Public Works and Services’ main estimates for the fiscal year 2014-15.
The department’s main estimates propose an operations expenditure budget of $108.9 million for 2014-15, an increase of 4 percent over 2013-14. This increase can be attributed to the following activities:
increased funding to deliver essential support services in the areas of infrastructure operations, general purpose office accommodations, contracts and records management associated with the devolution of federal programs, and
funding to support the implementation of a government-wide Procurement Shared Services Centre.
An ongoing challenge for this government is our aging buildings and facilities and the requirement for regular investment to ensure the availability of infrastructure for the delivery of government programs and services. The deferred maintenance program remains an essential part of this department’s overall strategy to address our client departments’ building infrastructure needs. This program continues to be coordinated with the capital planning process, energy conservation investments and our regular preventative maintenance program to maximize its effectiveness.
For 2014-15 this department will once again have $3 million in operations expenditure funding and another $5 million in infrastructure expenditure funding directed towards reducing our government’s deferred maintenance deficit.
I would now like to focus on some of the other activities Public Works and Services has planned for 2014-15.
The Technology Service Centre will begin implementing its next five-year Enterprise Network Strategy. This strategy will allow the TSC to identify the cost-effective delivery of service departments, boards and agencies’ need to meet their program demands in the years ahead. Given the importance of our government’s network in the delivery of such critical services as the transmission of medical digital imaging in support of health initiatives, it is imperative the network remain robust and reliable. The evaluation of new network technologies to help identify cost-effective ways to grow our network’s capacity while ensuring the security of our information is a vital component of this strategy moving forward.
The TSC, in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Services, will move the regional health authorities to TSC support beginning in 2014-15. This initiative will add 357 employees to the 3,450 government employees supported by the TSC in 2013-14. When combined with the additional employees anticipated with devolution and the new employees associated with departmental position growth, the total number of employees supported by the TSC will increase by 650. This represents a 19 percent increase in the number of employees supported by the TSC in 2013-14.
The Capital Asset Retrofit Fund program remains a priority for this department. The strategic energy conservation investments in building infrastructure managed through this program have resulted in significant improvements in the performance of our facilities and reduced operational costs, which in turn has reduced greenhouse gas emissions and our reliance on fossil fuels.
By the end of 2013-14, the government’s total cumulative reduction in fossil fuel consumption for space heating buildings is expected to exceed 13.5 million litres with a corresponding cumulative decrease in greenhouse gas emissions of over 36,000 tonnes.
Public Works and Services has identified $832,000 in permanent ongoing utility cost savings achieved through energy conservation initiatives undertaken in 2011-12 and 2012-13. When combined with the $654,000 in utilities savings achieved in 2010-11, the total realized savings and utilities funding re-profiled to capital under the Capital Asset Retrofit Fund program is $1.48 million. This is another step in the department’s long-term strategy to make the Capital Asset Retrofit Fund self-sustaining.
In keeping with this Assembly’s commitment to be as effective and efficient as possible, the departments of Public Works and Services and Justice are finalizing a memorandum of understanding to deliver maintenance services to the 112 RCMP “G” Division assets in 24 NWT communities.
Under the current Territorial Police Services Agreement, the GNWT is responsible for 70 percent of the operating, renovation and replacement costs associated with the RCMP assets. With this new MOU, Public Works and Services, in partnership with the Department of Justice, is anticipating improvements in the overall level of maintenance and timing to deliver these services through the expanded use of local and northern resources. In addition, there will be efficiencies gained and cost savings generated by using government-owned workforces, and locally contracted labour and materials when compared to the services now provided through a southern contractor.
In support of the MOU, Public Works and Services requires five new positions in the communities of Tuktoyaktuk, Fort McPherson, Norman Wells, Hay River and Yellowknife to properly manage the additional responsibilities. The associated costs will be recovered through the chargeback agreement with the Government of Canada.
Another notable initiative for Public Works and Services will be the implementation of a government-wide Procurement Shared Services Centre effective April 1, 2014. This new centre will be responsible for the procurement of goods and services, excluding construction, for all government departments and the NWT Housing Corporation that are estimated to exceed $5,000 in value.
This initiative will see designated procurement locations established in the offices of Public Works and Services in Fort Smith, Hay River and Inuvik in addition to the office now operational in Yellowknife, and will include consolidated tender desks to handle the distribution and receipt of all government tenders.
To meet the procurement demands, the department is establishing new procurement specialist positions in Hay River, Fort Smith and Inuvik along with a contracts administrator position in Fort Smith to support the consolidated tender desk functions.
In support of our government’s commitment to decentralization, Public Works and Services will be establishing a total of 10 new positions in communities outside of Yellowknife. Of the department’s total proposed budget, $90.4 million, or 87 percent, is located and managed regionally in support of the department’s decentralized programs.
In closing, Public Works and Services will continue to provide the high quality services that support the public infrastructure our clients and the public rely upon in delivering our government’s much needed programs and services.
Thank you for providing an opportunity for this overview of the department’s 2014-15 Main Estimates. I look forward to discussing them with you in further detail.
Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Do you have witnesses you’d like to bring into the House?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do.
Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Please escort the witnesses in.
Good evening. Mr. Beaulieu, please introduce your guests for the Chamber.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To my immediate right is Paul Guy, deputy minister of Public Works and Services; to my far right is Laurie Gault, director of the Technology Service Centre; to my left, Steve Lewis, director of corporate services. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Lewis, Mr. Guy, Ms. Gault, welcome to the Chamber. Committee, we’ll open up to general comments. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Being the first, welcome to the Minister and his staff for this budget review. Thank you for your introductory comments here.
I guess I’m interested in some of the savings, the energy savings and so on. The Minister noted the 13.5 litres of fuel and almost $1.5 million worth of utilities. Just to put that in perspective, and I know the department is now sort of the utilities department for the whole government, what is our total fuel consumption for the purposes of heating specifically and maybe you could define the utilities? Are we talking about electricity there or are there other utility costs in that figure? I’m interested in what our total budget is for utilities. If it’s electricity, then what’s our kilowatt hour consumption? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. We’ll give him a minute to get that information. Mr. Bromley, go ahead.
Sorry, Mr. Chair, did you want me to run through all of my comments? I’m easy which way we do it.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. No, I just wanted to give him a minute to gather that information here. We’ll go to Minister Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have a detailed breakdown for fiscal year ‘12-13, I believe. So we’ll provide that information and I’ll have the deputy minister just go through the chart.
Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Deputy Minister Guy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’ll start with our utilities budget. It covers all aspects of utilities including heating, electricity, sewer, water, and garbage collection. Within the area of heating, the majority of our savings that we’ve identified have come from both heating and electricity savings through work that we’ve done on the Capital Asset Retrofit Program. Within the breakdown of the savings, the split is between electricity and heating fuel, primarily on the heating fuel side from a conversion of diesel heating to biomass fueled boilers and on the electrical side it’s through things like lighting retrofits, electric heating boilers where we have access to electrical power on the hydro system and through some of the building control efficiency systems we upgrade with fans, variable frequency drives, those types of projects in the mechanical systems. So that’s primarily where the savings come from. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Guy. Mr. Bromley.
Just the other side of the equation, what I’m trying to do is sort of figure out what proportion of the totals we’re dealing with here. With our 13.5 million litres in savings that the Minister noted, I’m wondering what our total consumption would be and if the utilities are primarily electricity savings as the additional energy savings costs. How many kilowatt hours are we saving versus what our total consumption is? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Beaulieu.
Thank you. I will get more detail with my deputy, but the total expenditure in 2012-13, of which we were drawing the $1.48 million from, was $28,793,460.
Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Mr. Guy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In terms of cost, 53 percent of the cost that the Minister spoke to would have been in electricity. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Guy. Mr. Bromley.
