Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I talked about capital in the riding of Tu NedheWiilideh. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance some questions on the capital planning process.
I would like to ask the Minister: in this House, who is responsible for the capital plan? Who has final responsibility? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is an interdepartmental working group. They analyze the capital assets coming forward from each department and make recommendations to the Deputy Minister Capital Planning Committee, and that is shared by the Deputy Minister of Finance and includes all deputies.
They review the recommendations made by the working group and either accept or vary the recommendations. Then they provide recommendations to the Financial Management Board, and the Financial Management Board will review the recommendations of the planning committee and either accept or vary the recommendations.
The next part of the capital plan is provided to committee for review, and in camera reviews are scheduled. Feedback from committee can result in capital plans being varied, and then the final review of the capital plan takes place on the floor of the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I was going to ask the Minister to lay out the process, which he has already done. I guess what appears to be missing from the process is the weight, and I am not talking about W-A-I-T but the weight of each of the projects as they are brought forward by the various Deputy Ministers through the capital planning process.
I don't know which process has priority, and I guess coming down to the question would be: how does the GNWT prioritize the actual projects once they have gone through each project that comes up through the capital planning process?
There is a 20year capital plan that most departments have. There is an overall 20year capital plan, and then there is a fiveyear capital plan. There are a number of projects that could get on these plans, but sometimes the plans change. If they find that there is another facility or a building that is unsafe for the occupants, then that might take priority over one that is on the fiveyear capital plan. That may get pushed back a bit. I think we all, that have been around in this building for a while, have seen that, where plans get pushed back a bit because of other circumstances.
That would be the process that would be used. If it is on the fiveyear capital plan, then, normally, the planning would start for that, but if, for some unforeseen reason, something else happens to any of the other government assets, then that may have to take priority because of the safety issues that come along with it.
Assuming that everything remains and there are no emergencies, I would like to ask the Minister if factors such as employment play into the capital planning process. I know it is an important aspect of this Assembly to ensure that we have employment. As many have said, including the Minister of Finance, "employment is the best social program that we can have."
I would like to know if there is a community that has an employment of 40 per cent versus a community that has an employment rate of 70 per cent, is that a factor when we're allocating capital projects? Right now, what is happening in my riding is the projects are getting completed, and the young people that are being trained and are ready to take the next project on will have to work in other communities to fill in the gap.
First of all, that is a good thing. If these young people are getting the skills that they need and the contractor wants to move them to another community, I think that is a good thing. When we debate the capital budget, as we are going to be doing, you will find that there is a number of other projects for other communities. If contractors are able to secure that work, then they may move these folks there, and then there will be an opportunity, if there are other projects in their hometown, to come back home.
I always believe that's a good thing, and it expands their skills, their knowledge, but, as far as the employment goes, I don't believe that plays a part in the prioritizing of that project. Again, it goes back to safety and whether this building needs to be replaced for safety reasons and how long it has been on the capital plan. The Member makes a good point, and I agree with them that, if they have to move around with the work, then that's a good thing. They are being recognized for the skills that they gained when the project was near a home community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree with some parts of what the Minister is saying. Some of the employees like to go to other projects in other communities, but many of them cannot.
I would like to ask the Minister: I know that they use several factors to determine, I think, five or six different factors to be weighed up against other factors to determine which capital item or infrastructure item will be placed first on the infrastructure list for each year that we review in the House. I would like to ask the Minister, if there is a possibility that, it's sort of like a social factor I guess, of getting away from the technical factors, if they could add employment as part of a key factor when determining which communities will get infrastructure projects?
Mr. Speaker, as much as I agree with the Member on the importance of employment in the small communities and I think, through a number of the different programs that the Government of the Northwest Territories offers as part of infrastructure goes, I think we have seen an example through the small community employment fund through the rural and remote committee, there was someone there that was allocated for some employment opportunities and in small communities, but I don't believe that's a particular one that was factored in with the prioritizing of projects. I don't even know if it should be, to be quite honest with you. Maybe it is a discussion we need to have.
Again, I will go back to the fact that we do have infrastructure deficit that is quite large. All communities in the Northwest Territories need projects. We hear that here, in the House. We go back to our capital budget that we are going to be debating in the next couple weeks in this House. I think we are going to see that there is a huge infrastructure budget and there should be benefits for all those possible in the territory.
I think I took the long way to answer the Member's question. It is no, I don't believe that employment factor would be prioritized as part of allocating projects in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
