Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to present Supplementary Appropriation No. 4, 2008-2009. This document requests authority for additional appropriations of $46,691,000 for operations expenditures for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.
There are two items in this request:
1.
To provide appropriation authority in the amount of $9.3 million for the Department of the Executive, Financial Management Board Secretariat to record the increase required to the estimated accrued environment liabilities of the Government of the Northwest Territories as at March 31, 2009, as required by Canadian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
2.
To provide appropriation authority in the amount of $37.3 million for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to record a grant-in-kind for the costs associated with community infrastructure that will be transferred to community governments. There is no outlay of cash as the funds were expensed in previous fiscal years. The impact on government operations is nil as the department will record an offsetting revenue amount.
I am prepared to review the details of the supplementary appropriation document. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Are there any general comments in regard to the Supplementary Appropriation No. 4? With that, I’d like to ask the Minister if he will be bringing in any witnesses. Minister of Finance.
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Does committee agree that the Minister brings in his witnesses?
Agreed.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses in.
Mr. Miltenberger, could you introduce your witnesses for the record.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me the deputy minister, Margaret Melhorn, and Sandy Kalgutkar, the deputy secretary to the Financial Management Board. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Welcome witnesses. If we can move to page 5, 2008-2009 Supplementary Appropriation No. 4, Executive, operations expenditures, Financial Management Board Secretariat, government accounting, not previously authorized, $9.348 million. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I notice that $9.348 million for environmental liabilities. We are playing catch-up, but I think we are learning how to treat the environment properly. I understand that this is also only part of what our liabilities are that we will be hearing more in the future. Is the Minister assured that we will be taking care of these liabilities so we don’t accrue these sorts of costs in the future, taking care of the environment?
Secondly, is there any kind of estimate of what we can expect for costs the next time around on this same line item, the environmental liabilities? Thank you.
Minister Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This money is going to be booked for what we anticipate our liabilities yet to be expensed. The money is not going to…As those liabilities come due, we will draw down this fund. We have, for example, booked the government, as well, over $27 million for Giant Mine that is being…That was done a number of years ago. As this fund is drawn down, then we will deal with those. We agree with the Member that the intent is to do the proper planning so that we can build in these costs into the cost of the development so that there is no further cost to the taxpayer. Thank you.
I appreciate the response. I understand the comments from the Minister. Perhaps there is not an estimate of what the future cost will be that are not yet accounted for in this proposal. I am wondering whether any of these that are accounted for with the $9.348 million are Commissioner’s land that is leased to other holders other than GNWT. Are all of these environmental liabilities on Commissioner’s land that we actually are off-buying ourselves?
Mr. Chairman, we provided the list to committee. I would be happy to share that. We have all the details of these known liabilities.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. We look forward to you sharing that information. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have the list in front of me. It is listed by department. May I assume, then, that if it is just a department listed and not another entity, that if it is just a GNWT department, that it is, in fact, a GNWT facility that is on that land and it is not leased out to others? Thank you.
When I look at the list, there is one under new sites at Deline that is attributed to MACA that is referenced. There is a former site of a laundry drycleaner. I wouldn’t be able to speak definitively on that one, but the rest are water treatment plants, the highway maintenance facility, airports, schools, tank farms, I would say that they would be government assets. But I have to commit to get the information on the Deline site.
Thank you.
Okay, we are dealing with Supplementary Appropriation No. 4, 2008-2009. Executive, operations expenditures, Financial Management Board Secretariat, government accounting, not previously authorized, $9.348 million. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know we had gone through this in committee. I just wanted to get clarification on page 6. It starts off with a number and then the grant-in-kind net book value of the transfers occurs, not previously approved. That adds together for a total. The same number is added again, which appears to increase the total by the same amount twice.
Mr. Beaulieu, we are still on page 5. Page 6 would be a problem of its own. Maybe we can conclude page 5 and then we will get to that, unless the Minister wants to respond to the question now.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have to ask the Member to repeat the question. I think he is asking whether the $37 million has been counted twice.
Are we on page 6? Okay. Just on the regional operations, there is a number in the $37 million grant-in-kind added and it becomes another number and then down the right side of the column, it appears to be added again. It increases that original number by the same amount two times.
We are still on page 5. We can hold our questions until we get to the page we are asking the questions on. With that, we will hold the question until we get to page 6.
Supplementary Appropriation No. 4, 2008-1009, Executive, operations expenditures, Financial Management Board Secretariat, government accounting, not previously authorized, $9.348 million.
Agreed.
Total, Financial Management Board Secretariat, not previously authorized, $9.348 million.
Agreed.
Total department, not previously authorized, $9.348 million.
Agreed.
Okay. We are on page 6. Mr. Minister, would you like to respond to the question raised by Mr. Beaulieu on page 6?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will start with the deputy.
Ms. Melhorn.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The line titled regional operations is one activity within the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. The total activity approved to date is $116 million. This supplementary appropriation is seeking approval for $37 million, which would bring total regional operations to $153 million. The line entitled total department is the current appropriation for total department adding $37 million brings the requested appropriation for the total department to $190 million. That is the way it should work.
Mr. Beaulieu.
I understand. Thank you.
Municipal and Community Affairs, operations expenditures, regional operations, not previously authorized, $37.343 million.
Agreed.
Total department, not previously authorized, $37.343 million.
Agreed.
Does the committee agree that the review of tabled document 37-16(3), Supplementary Appropriation No. 4, 2008-2009, is concluded?
Agreed.
Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that consideration of Tabled Document 37-16(3), Supplementary Appropriation No. 4, 2008-2009, be now concluded and that Tabled Document 37-16(3) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The motion is on the floor. The motion is being considered. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question is being called.
---Carried
Does committee agree that the review of Tabled Document 37-16(3), Supplementary Appropriation No. 4, 2008-2009, is concluded?
Agreed.
Thank you. With that, I would like to thank the witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, escort the witnesses out, please.
As we read the next item, we are going to deal with Tabled Document 35-16(3), Supplementary Appropriation No. 1, 2009-2010. With that, I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the supp for opening comments. Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
