Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, certainly energy efficiency in our retrofits for all our houses, new houses and retrofit houses is a priority for the corporation with the high costs of energy in the North. Part of our strategic renewal, we're going to have some new programs, some new initiatives that will have an emphasis on energy efficiency for homeowners. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Williams. Seeing nothing further from committee, I will call this. I will remind committee this is an information item only, it's not voteable, but for posterity I will call the department. NWT Housing Corporation, total capital estimates, $23,762,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Does committee agree this concludes our consideration of the NWT Housing Corporation?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Thank you to the Minister and to the witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, you may escort the witnesses from the Chamber. Thank you, committee. We have agreed to next consider the Department of Finance, which begins on page 26 of the capital estimates. Minister, do you have witnesses you wish to bring in to the Chamber?
Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the House. Minister, would you please introduce your witness for the record.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, with me I have Mr. David Stewart, who is the deputy minister of the Department of Finance. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. I will open up the floor to general comments from committee. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Earlier in my general comments on the overall capital budget, I suggested that there be a part of the capital budget where compliance with the fiscal responsibility policy is actually discussed and the calculations are provided so we understand what the envelope is for capital spending. The Minister, as I recall, committed to provide that to Regular MLAs sometime during the business plans. That's like in November. Could the Minister maybe expedite that a little bit? Presumably they've already done all this work. Is there some way we could get it sooner than the business plans? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in the spirit of cooperation and transparency, I will endeavour to get that information to the Members before the business plans. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. That's great and, of course, I'm going to say the sooner the better, but I'll leave it to the Minister and his staff to prepare it. We've got it before us so the work has already been done internally, presumably.
Can I get a commitment out of the Minister that, in future infrastructure acquisition plans or capital budgets, that will become a regular component of the document with future capital budgets? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we could probably provide that during the review of the capital plan. I'm not sure about putting in the actual document, but we will provide it to committee during the actual business plan and then make a decision as to whether we put it into the document.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess I'm getting half of what I want. This is an important policy. We passed it in the House, as I seem to recall, so showing some accountability to the public that we actually live by this policy would be helpful in the future capital budgets, but I'm going to leave it to the Minister. Maybe we can work that out with the next one. It looks like he wants to say something so I'm happy to get his comments. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We can't give him all he wants right away. We'll give him half of what he wants for now, and when we are discussing the terms of the business plans, or capital plans, and that is what I should have said before instead of business plans, then we can make the determination there as to whether we included it into the capital planning document. I am sure we will get some feedback from committee, and we will take that into consideration. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. I know that we have moved the finance department along because they do provide that information now in the public accounts, but that is a retrospective look at how we have actually done with the Fiscal Responsibility Act. I think that it would be good financial practice and good public policy to actually include it in future capital plans. We are having the debate and discussion, and that is good, so we have moved the department along a little bit.
I do have one other particular question about something that is not in the capital budget. It goes back to the Minister's statement earlier today in the House about completion of the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Project. Some Members might recall, there was in previous capital budgets, and maybe it was in the O and M, some allocation for something called the Western Geomatic Centre. That was to help us capitalize on the Mackenzie Valley fibre optic line, but that was delayed by Cabinet, this Western Geomatic Centre. I do not seem to find anything, maybe I am looking in the wrong part of the budget, but there does not seem to be anything in the budget about that Western Geomatic Centre to help us capitalize on this Mackenzie Valley fibre optic line. Does Cabinet ever intend to bring that Western Geomatic Centre back into the capital budget in some way? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is right, correct. We actually delayed it for a little while, and I think it is within one of the other department's O and M budget, but I will confirm that, and as we go through the business plan I will see if it is the plan of the department to bring it back through the business planning process and back into the O and M budget. The Member is correct. It was delayed for a while. The intention was, I think, to reinstate it. I will follow up, and then we will have an opportunity to go through the business plan, but if I can get some information before that, I will share it with the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the commitment by the Minister, and I will encourage him to get that included in the business plans. I do not know if it is ECE or through the Aurora Research Institute or some other department. We have got the line finished. Let us invest the money to make sure that we fully benefit, and that the region fully benefits from this, and I do not have to tell that to the Minister because it is his riding. Thanks, Mr. Chair. That is all I have.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Did you want to comment, Minister McLeod? No? Okay. Moving on. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to talk a bit about the Family Support Centre in Hay River. It is an organization that provides shelter and assistance to women and children who are escaping family violence. The reason I bring it up during this department is because they are in need of a new facility, and that facility would involve federal funding, and the Department of Finance would be the department who would assist the facility and go after that funding.
Many of the Ministers and myself have toured this facility. The facility they were in until recently, it has a lot of issues, and it is actually slated for demolition. They have gotten a plan in place to build the new facility. They have applied to the federal government for funding to demolish, and then prepare the site, and they have moved into a temporary site provided by the Town of Hay River. The temporary site provides a third fewer beds than the shelter used to, and right now, they are sort of in limbo. They are in a temporary site. They need a new facility. They have been doing a lot of work themselves. They are getting a plan together. They are raising funds, and essentially what they need is a 25 per cent contribution coming from their own fundraising from the GNWT, whoever it might be, and they need that so that they can approach the feds and get the other 75 per cent of the contribution.
I know this has been brought to the Minister's attention, and I was wondering: has the department looked into this, and have they reached out to the family support centre? Have they reached out to the federal government, and would they be willing to contribute this so that we have a functioning family support centre in Hay River? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister McLeod.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I believe we are exploring some of the federal funding pots and trying to get some of the criteria for there to see if the project would fit under any one of those programs. I believe it does, but I will confirm that. If it does fit under one of their programs, there is usually a cost shared. I think it is 75 per cent federal dollars and 25 per cent territorial contribution, but I can assure the Member and all Members of this House that, if we get some indication of some funding from the federal government, this territorial government would be willing to put in our 25 per cent. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the Minister. I appreciate that. Hay River appreciates that. That is a big commitment on the part of the government. I know they are hoping to move forward with this facility by the spring. When can we expect some information back from the Department of Finance on this? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister McLeod.
No concrete timeline right now, but it kind of depends on the federal pots. I will confirm with my colleagues to see if we have reached out to them yet to see if this particular project fits under one of those. There is no solid timeline right now. We have opportunities to meet with our federal colleagues and we will continue to raise the issue. Part of our problem is, the federal government rolls out all these particular pots of money. We have to follow up with them to see what the criteria is. I mean, they make these announcements without some of the criteria attached to them, so we have to wait until they come up with the criteria, but we feel that this project would probably fit under one of the federal government funding pots. As soon as we make any progress on this, or we have reached out and had conversations with federal counterparts, or our officials have conversations with their officials, I will keep the Member and all the Members updated. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the Minister. I think I got what I need from that, and so now, no further questions.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Any closing comments to that, Minister McLeod?
Not really. We will just continue to move forward and try and access money, and continue to work with the federal government to actually try and access all pots of this money. One of the reasons we have gone through the exercise, we have gone through in the last couple of years, is to put ourselves in a position where they come to us and say, we have 75 cents on the dollar. Are you able to match it? I would like to be able to tell them that we are, and I think we have positioned ourselves very well to make our contributions to any capital projects, or any funding from the federal government. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister.
Do we have any further general comments on the Department of Finance? Seeing none, we will move to consideration of the activity summaries. The first is on page 27, with the related information item on page 28. Comments or questions? Seeing none, I will call the activity. Finance, directorate, infrastructure investments, $255,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. The next activity is on page 30, Office of the Comptroller General. Comments or questions? Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the integration of health authorities into SAM, is this the last integration for the Department of Health and Social Services authorities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my understanding is this is the last of the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services authorities. The Hay River Social Services Authority and Tlicho Community Services Agency are independent of this, so it does not include them. Thank you.
Thank you. Nothing further from Mr. Beaulieu. Anything further on this? If not, I will call this activity. Finance, Office of the Comptroller General, infrastructure investments, $7,130,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Please return to page 26, Finance, total capital estimates, $7,385,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
