Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We feel that we will be able to produce and deliver on the projects within the department as we thought. I know that there would be extra costs associated with COVID that we are all tracking in our different departments that potentially could be reimbursed from the federal government. That's our goal.
I know that the estimates were submitted to whoever they get submitted to ahead of COVID, so yes, they still are pre-COVID numbers. However, we do recognize that we will have a lot to do in the next year with respect to COVID, so the main estimates and such for the next year are going to reflect a lot more the impacts of COVID.
I would just ask if Dr. Dragon wanted to add anything to that, if that was fulsome? Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. You're good? Okay. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Has the department done any work, taking in the fact that we have a pandemic on hand? Have you looked at those numbers and thought about adjustments already? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister.
I think that's pretty much all the department has been doing for the last while, is adjusting all of our programs, our projects, everything with respect to COVID. It's just unfortunately, with the way that the system of the budgeting goes in, this is my understanding, was we have to get the budget in. It was done prior to COVID, and then there will be adjustments coming. Maybe, Dr. Dragon, I don't know if you have any significant adjustments that you might want to discuss at this point?
Thank you, Minister. Dr. Dragon.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Looking at COVID, one of the things we've been doing, right off the bat, we were involved in the border crossings, getting those up, doing a lot of communication, a lot of legislative changes. Looking at when we were giving some benefits to the airline industries and stuff, we had to do legislative changes there in order to enact that in terms of fees. Lots of work around the procurement side and making it available for people to do online, as well as aligning to the regular meetings of the emergency management office. A big part of the work that we do, as well, in Infrastructure, is with the TSC, so all the employees who are working from home, we've had to come up with our unit to be able to provide that type of support. When the Member was mentioning about some of the fees, that's where we incurred a lot of the fees in terms of Infrastructure.
To date, we are about $1.2 million, and the majority of that cost, over a million of it, is having to do with the TSC and providing that type of support for all of our employees. The other part that we look at, as well, is all our capital projects. We've had a team meeting with our colleagues in the Department of Finance who manage the capital planning process. We have a group that meets every two weeks that looks at all the capital projects that are going across the Northwest Territories, and we feel we're in a fairly good position right now. They meet every two weeks and come back to us with a report. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. With respect to the projects, have you looked at whether they can be delivered on time? You probably have a timeline for them, and I just want to know that because I want to make sure that contractors that are out there know what is going to happen, and I think it's important to them for their survival. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Yes, we have been. One of the things that Joe and his team have been doing is creating a matrix of all of our projects that we have and applying a sort of risk assessment, is the right word for it, a ranking system of a red, yellow, and green, and then there are columns as well that look at what are the potential delays, where are the pinch points, so, if this project doesn't go ahead by this point, it's now going to be delayed, so that they're aware of where all of those critical moments are for project life.
We have, like I said, a red, yellow, green tiered system. Obviously, green is on track, ready to go, good to go, funded, and all the way to red, where we may be waiting for funding or we may think it's not going to be able to be done because of, perhaps, community backlash or not wanting to have southern or outside of their community people in. It's not just necessarily southern workers, it's often just workers from within the NWT. That's all happening.
I recognize that contractors are probably a little bit in the dark as far as what is going to go ahead and what is not, but that is part of the conversation that we are continuing to have. I do understand, and I shouldn't say that because I do believe the department has been very much back-and-forth with a lot of the contractors. Letters went out very early on to talk with the different ones that were already contracted and set to go ahead this summer to have those conversations with them, were they seeing economic hits to their companies, where they felt like maybe they weren't going to be able to produce or deliver the product. All of that kind of work and triaging of our projects has been ongoing since basically COVID hit. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. With respect to contracts, have you looked at the ones or identified the ones that we know can be done by northern contractors versus southern contractors? Have those projects been given priority? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I will ask Dr. Dragon to answer that. Thank you.
Thank you. Dr. Dragon?
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, in terms of looking at all of our infrastructure projects, as the Minister mentioned, we have that scale where we're looking at not only the projects that we manage within Infrastructure, but within Infrastructure we manage about 65 contracts, capital projects that go on. For line departments, we do another 87. What we're trying to do there is make sure that we have all the information out on kind of a litmus test of where projects are at.
As the Minister had mentioned, we've sent already over 100 emails to contractors since COVID hit to make sure that they have the supports that they need. We've been dealing with a lot of companies worried about what is the process of getting into communities, so we've been working very effectively with the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer in looking at ways of trying to get into communities. So far, what all that work has told us is that we actually are on track with the majority of our projects. We do have some that are not going to be progressing, and some of those are having to do with budget issues, not necessarily having to do with COVID issues. We haven't seen any so far that we have felt that is in relation to COVID that it's not going on. We continue to monitor it every two weeks to try and make sure that we are on top of it and we're communicating very regularly on any best practices that we are getting from other jurisdictions on capital projects, and we've seen some of that in projects now. Just for example, the TASR, where they're coming on board, they've taken a lot of the lessons learned from other jurisdictions that they're applying to that.
Finally, I would say, when we have communities that are looking at maybe not so much having the ability or wanting southern contractors to come into their community, what we're doing is looking at very specific points where we get into issues of timing with the projects. Right now, we're looking at timing, and those haven't been an issue to date. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Dr. Dragon. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. One last question. You mentioned that you sent emails to contractors. What type of response have you received from those contractors, and has there been any follow-up with telephone calls to them or meetings with them? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. There has been lots of back and forth. I'm going to guess though there has been some where, perhaps, they haven't had that follow up. Again, I don't have the metrics of how many have actually responded and came back, but I do understand from my department that there has been a lot of back and forth with our contractors. I know myself, personally, I've had a lot of contractors reaching out to me and had conversations with them, some from your region. I guess, again, I will just ask Dr. Dragon if he actually has any sort of numbers or data around the results.
Thank you, Minister. Dr. Dragon.
Thank you, Madam Chair. In terms of the communication that we go through, I don't have metrics on how many have been going back and forth, other than the fact that the group, I've asked them to keep track of how many emails that they're sending out to contractors. We do have 100 so far that have been sent directly to contractors. Talking about active projects that we currently have on, I wanted also to let the committee know that, when we're going out and we're talking to contractors, one of the things that we're doing is also providing them with website links, any contact information as well for the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission, WSCC, and also the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer so that they get the information directly in terms of what are some of the constraints for their employees if they are southern or if they are northern. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Are there any further questions in regard to general comments? If not, I'll move into the details contained in the tabled document. Agreed?
Agreed.
Committee, we will defer the departmental summary and review the estimates by activity summary, beginning with asset management, starting on page 226, with information items on page 229. Questions to asset management? Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. There are a number of projects expected under asset management: highway projects; there are schools, Sissons; a school in Tuktoyaktuk, Behchoko, Colville Lake. I am also looking at the line here, design and technical services of $3,800,000. Would the Minister be able to give me a sense of what proportion of that design and technical services went to BIP businesses? Would the Minister have that? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
I have to apologize. I am missing a section in my binder. I don't have page 226. I wonder if I have two 226s. Sorry. My apologies. Okay. Two-twenty-eight is my next number, Joe. Thank you. If the committee would give me a second, I am going to pull up my e-binder. I apologize. If that would be okay?
I just stopped the time.
I will have Joe answer this question. Thank you.
Okay. Dr. Dragon.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe the question was looking at how much of that was BIP-related. Anything that we are looking into our contracts that we provide, that is the first opportunity that we do in terms of the BIP. I don't have a percentage on that in terms of how many contracts, but I have asked in terms of the department. We will get that back for you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Dr. Dragon. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that. I recognize I don't need it necessarily for this specific issue. Glancing at the list, I just know offhand that a number of these went over tender and they never actually were awarded to northern businesses. I think there is this disconnect in that I know BIP is in ITI, and I know much of the procurement is in Finance and then some of it is in Infrastructure.
At the end of the day, I would like if the Minister could give me a sense of, in this Infrastructure project, the contracts we are actually putting out at the end of the day that actually go to BIP businesses, if I could get a breakdown of that figure. I know the policy exists and it's a good policy, but there seems to be a disconnect of contracts actually being awarded to BIP businesses at the end of the day. So if I could get that commitment from the Minister, that would be appreciated. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
I would commit to that, but my deputy is also indicating over there that he actually has the answer, so I will pass it over to Dr. Dragon. Thank you.
All right. Thank you, Minister. Dr. Dragon.
Thank you, Madam Chair. One of the things that I wanted to let committee know in terms of looking at how many contracts, I know there has been a lot of focus on northern businesses. Looking at some of the metrics, I wanted to give the committee some of the reflection on that. Last year, in terms of the 2019-2020 fiscal year, in terms of our contracts for construction maintenance, architecture, and engineering services, anything valued at over $500,000, we had 45 contracts that were awarded at about $95 million for construction maintenance and A and E services. Of those 45 contracts, 39 of them were awarded to northern businesses. So approximately 87 percent went to northern businesses at a value of $78 million, that is 82 percent; 31 of those contracts were awarded to BIP-registered companies, 71 percent.
Six of those contracts were awarded to southern firms. The reason why is we did not receive any bids from any northern companies for those six, and those were contracts for services that we couldn't get here, looking at water treatment plants. We had one with the Trout River Bridge rehabilitation, as well as some highway stripping and sealing, coating services.
Again, looking at that, we continually have the reflection of making sure that northern businesses, and especially during this time, I have asked our procurement staff to make sure that I have regular reports on how many northern businesses are actually getting our contracts, but, again, for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, we are looking at about 87 percent that are going to northern businesses. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Dr. Dragon. Do we have any other questions? Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Just in speaking with businesses from my constituency, I understand that sometimes a lot of contracts are, yes, awarded to northern businesses, but the employment doesn't necessarily stick behind. Do you guys have a breakdown of, even though 87 percent of contracts went to northern businesses, how much of the dollars or employment actually stayed in the North for that percentage? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I think that would be one we would have to come back to you on. I doubt that we have those numbers handy, but we will commit to that. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. In addition, another thing I would be curious to know, and I understand that the Minister might not have this information handy, is, if contracts are being broken up and then passed on to companies down south that are then bringing up workers who are actually doing the work and gaining the employment, it would be interesting to know: can we as a government actually break that work up ourselves and do a bit more project management to be able to maintain the employment actually in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just one second, here. Definitely, that is the goal, obviously, to not have it just become again a sort of shell company that gets a cut and then just gives everything to the south. Obviously, this is part of our mandate and our priorities that we all came to together. So, we definitely will be incorporating those types of suggestions into our procurement review and our, what do you want to call it, when we start making the adjustments to the procurement system. I am not really getting my word right. Yes, we commit to incorporating that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The last piece that I want to be able to bridge in there is -- actually, I am going to save that question. I am good. Thank you.
