Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will continue after a short recess. Thank you.
---SHORT RECESS
Thank you, committee. I will now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 135-18(3), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2017-2018. Does the Minister of Finance have any opening remarks?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm here to present Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2017-2018. This document provides for an increase of $2.4 million to the capital budget.
These supplementary estimates include $1.5 million for the purchase of four portables for St. Joseph School in Yellowknife, and $900,000 towards a construction of a new fish plant in Hay River. This expenditure will be fully offset by revenue from the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.
That concludes my opening remarks, Mr. Chair. I am prepared to respond to committee's questions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. We have agreed to begin with general comments. Does the Minister of Finance wish to bring witnesses into the House?
Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Would the Minister please introduce his witnesses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to my right I have Mr. David Stewart, who is the deputy minister, Department of Finance. To my left, I have Ms. Sandy Kalgutkar, deputy secretary to the FMB.
Thank you, Minister. I will now open the floor for general comments. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to speak to, it's not a question, it's just a comment. I support these supplementary estimates or the requested appropriation, in particular, the $1.5 million for the purchase of four portables at St. Joseph School. That school is in my riding. It's the largest elementary school in the Northwest Territories. I have risen in this House before to speak about the space needs of the school. This is something that this school district was looking to bring forward, so I'm very pleased that the government is providing assistance to the School District of Yellowknife Catholic Schools in the purchase of these portables and that we are going to take some of the pressure off the space needs at Ecole St. Joseph.
I hope that, moving forward, we continue to support our partners in the educational system similarly because, when we change our policies and programs and put demands on the schools, we need to do our best to offset those demands and effectively support education across all levels in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister McLeod, do you wish to comment?
No need to, Mr. Chair. I just thank the Member for his comments. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Next, we have Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as the Minister may have heard me say today in my statement, one of the unintended, I think, unintended costs of the introduction of junior kindergarten was the necessity to provide these portables. If junior kindergarten had not been introduced last fall, would the school still have needed the portables? I wonder if the Minister can answer that. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My understanding is that the school was getting close to their capacity; if not this year, I think these would have been required soon, or these would have been required eventually.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, it's my understanding that the school was anyway fairly full and then, once there were 50 or 60 junior kindergarten students added to that, then it was untenable. One of the good things about our system of government is that we can do supplementary appropriation of this kind and be a little more nimble in response to the school's needs rather than having to wait until the fall to the next capital plan, which then of course wouldn't come into effect until a year from now. Those are my comments. Nothing further. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister McLeod. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just want to be clear that I do support these two items that are in the supplementary appropriation, but I'm wondering if one of the witnesses can tell us what the position is of the supplementary reserve for infrastructure. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Stewart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the 2017-2018 supplementary reserve will be over-expended by about $7.5 million. That includes, though, a special warrant related to the barges that will be repayable over time, but for the year, it's $7.5 million over the reserve amount. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Stewart. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So given that the supplementary reserve, then, is in a deficit position, how does that show up as debt in our accounts? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Stewart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So as the Member would be aware, the estimates are that; they're estimates. As the year goes along, the supplementary reserves are accessed for situations like this. Departments also end up, at the end of the year, with some lapsed funding, and that all gets figured out at the end of the year. Then we'll be able to figure out our cash position and know whether that's going to add to our short-term debt or whether we'll have adequate resources for the year to cover all those expenditures; but if it is beyond the revenues that we had for the year, then that would go on short-term debt. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Stewart. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to thank the deputy minister for that explanation. So does this affect our overall long-term debt or our debt wall in any way? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Stewart.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, the short-term debt as well as the long-term debt goes under our debt limit, which is $1.3 billion, is the federally imposed debt limit. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Stewart. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So perhaps one last question: is the department looking at what the supplementary reserve is going to be for 2018-2019? Is it the same level? Or what sort of lessons learned are there when this goes into $7.5 million of debt? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the capital supplementary will be at the same level, which I believe is $5 million. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know that the Deputy Minister talked about this. That $10 million is related to a special warrant for the barges for the Marine Transportation Services. So when does that amount start to get transferred back into the revolving fund that was set up for expenses related to the marine transportation services? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Stewart.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. My understanding is that it will be repaid over a 15-year period for the contributions we've made to them. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Stewart. Mr. O'Reilly.
Okay. Thanks, Mr. Chair. So over a 15-year period. I guess I was hoping for something shorter than that, but the amount that gets charged back to the revolving fund, does it include the interest on the short-term debt or any interest related to the special warrant? Does it get charged back to the revolving fund? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Stewart.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, we'll charge the interest on that short-term debt back to the revolving fund. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Stewart. Any further questions, committee? Seeing none. Seeing no further general comments, we will now proceed to a review of supplementary estimates by department. The committee has agreed to begin the review with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, operation expenditures, not previously authorized, $1,500,000. I will now open the floor to general comments on the Department of Education. Seeing that there are no further comments, does committee agree to proceed to the detail contained in the tabled document?
Agreed.
Committee, we will now begin at page 6, which I just read out. Okay. Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2017-2018, Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditure, under not previously authorized, $1,500,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Next we have, under Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2017-2018, under Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, capital investment expenditures, not previously authorized, $900,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Total department, $900,000. Does committee agree?
