Debates of May 29, 2018 (day 31)

Thank you. Ms. Green.

Nothing further.

Thank you. Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I just want to clarify the designated $1.5 million for the portables. Is that for two portables? Thank you.

Thank you. I invite the Minister to direct questions to his fellow Ministers if he so sees fit and if they agree with answering, but I will ask Minister McLeod.

I believe there are four portables, but I will confirm that. I believe it is four portables. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I am just trying to understand. There are four portables. Likely they will be, as the Minister stated, available by September 2019.

There will be a construction period. I am just trying to understand: once construction is complete, will there be an effort to demobilize the portables? Is there a process in place of, perhaps, ECE passing it on to Public Works and Services, and would they, at some point, be reallocated to another construction site? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, if you want to come through me to redirect the question, I can do that. Thank you. If I can redirect it to Minister Cochrane? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister Cochrane, would you care to answer?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The portables that are coming in actually will be retained by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. In previous years, we bought portables and we gave them to the school authorities, and then it was hard to transfer them.

They will be used for the school that will be replaced. It will be a couple of years, and then, at that time, we will be determining the best usage for them. At this point, we are not handing them over to Infrastructure. They will stay as assets for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to be used where needed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I admit it seems like a long-term question, but I have to ask: if the construction is completed for Yellowknife, would those portables possibly be available for the outlying communities, like Fort Providence? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the answer is yes, they would be. If they are not needed in the capital, then there would be an opportunity. If they are needed in other communities, then they would be available. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Nadli.

No further questions.

Thank you. Seeing nothing further, I will call this section. Supplementary Estimates, (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2018-2019, Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures, early childhood and school services, not previously authorized, $1,527,000. Does committee agree?

Agreed.

Thank you, committee. Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures, total department, not previously authorized, $1,527,000. Does committee agree?

Agreed.

Thank you, committee. Moving on to page 7. Comments or questions? Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to note, this would be one of those areas for future review of the supplemental appropriations, if the deferred maintenance projects could have even a list here tallying up what the amount would be. In this case, $838,000 if it is three projects, 10 projects; if we could have some idea of what the deferred maintenance projects would be, it would be appreciated in the future. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a comment.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Comment noted, and I will allow the Minister to respond. Minister McLeod.

No, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't have much to say, other than we appreciate the feedback from the Member, and we've had a couple of suggestions already, and we do take those things back and see how we can work, incorporate them into the estimates as we prepare them going forward, and the briefings that we provide to committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Seeing nothing further, I will call this activity. Infrastructure, operations expenditures, asset management, not previously authorized, $838,000. Does committee agree?

Agreed.

Infrastructure, operations expenditures, total department, not previously authorized, $838,000. Does committee agree?

Agreed.

Thank you, committee. Continuing to page 8, Municipal and Community Affairs. I see no comments. I will call this activity. Municipal and Community Affairs, operations expenditures, community operations, not previously authorized, $64,000. Does committee agree?

Agreed.

Committee agrees. Municipal and Community Affairs, operations expenditures, total department, not previously authorized, $64,000. Does committee agree?

Agreed.

Thank you, committee. Moving on to page 9. Education, Culture and Employment. Do we have comments or questions? Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In there, on the line, it talks about junior kindergarten upgrades, various, at about $177,000. Looking through the notes, Fort Liard School, there was a carry-over. Could the Minister explain what the carry-over was? It talked about the washroom being done, but there seems to be this huge amount of carry-over presently. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.

Yes, Thank you, Mr. Chair. If I can direct that to the Minister of Education, Ms. Cochrane. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We were hoping that all the renovations, et cetera, would be done for the last fiscal year, but we had to carry over some. For the Fort Liard one, the money was carried over to finish the JK sink in the washroom, which I hear is done, I'm not sure, and to construct a fence for the outdoor play area and the equipment. All of the schools will need specialized play equipment for that age group. We are in the process for doing that for most of the schools. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that answer. I guess I'm just looking at some notes here, and it says it was all done. Can the Minister please clarify? The notes I have here says the project in Fort Liard was all done except for the fencing, but for the bathroom? Now, I'm hearing that the bathroom hasn't been completed. Can we get that verified? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in the 2017-2018 budget, we budgeted $1.295 million for JK upgrades, and the expenditures were actually about $1,118,629, so there is about $176,000 in carry-over, expected carry-over. As far as the actual detail of what, we would have to find the information. If there is something with the washroom, or if a toilet seat's not put on, we will endeavour to gather that information together and share it with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that commitment to get that clarified. The other one is Charles Tetcho School, the addition here I did speak to when we had the briefing this morning. I noticed that it's an $891,000 carry-over. Is that information available, or is that something that we can get later on? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my understanding is the contract is in place for a multi-year project. The expected completion would be August of 2018. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just like I said, I'm trying to understand. There's a carry-over here of $891,000, so maybe I'm not understanding it properly. I understand there is a contract in place. I know they're doing the work. I've been in there, and I noticed there was a delay there. I'm trying to understand: what's left to be done with this carry-over? Thank you, Mr. Chair.