Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So within this budget, you wouldn't see the costs for this year's actuals just yet. That will be in the subsequent year's main estimates under the 20222023 actuals at that time. The way that the budget's information item is structured, you also wouldn't see that figure called out separately; however, the Minister is correct, that currently the airlift cost for the Sachs Harbour delivery situation is about $3 million to date. We are still working on working through that process. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. So that estimate, does it include any compensation to individuals in Sachs Harbour for what happened or any claims that individuals might have had? Thanks.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, no. We did cover the cost to bring the supplies into the community. There is no additional cost. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Okay, thanks. So this incident has happened twice now in the short tenure of MTS. Does the MTS actually have any written policies or guidance about where they deliver stuff first or the priority? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm going to ask Ms. St. Denis to speak to our plan. I know we have one in plan. We've got our six tugs. They all have different areas to go. But I want to see if Tracy can speak to it. Thanks.
Thank you. Ms. St. Denis.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member is correct that there is planning that is underway. Preplanning gets done in advance as far as what community is done by which piece of equipment. That work is currently underway for the 2023 season as far as what planning needs to happen and when. And as well part of that exercise is doing a review of last summer, the 2022 season. And the plan is to have the Minister to share that report with standing committee. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Yeah, look, I'm not asking about planning. I'm asking about a policy that says MTS will deliver fuel first to communities. Anything else comes after that. Is there any written policy, directive, whatever you want to call it, that says that's what MTS is going to do? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm going to ask Tracy to speak further to that. Thanks.
Thank you. Ms. St. Denis.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The core function and the core priority of the organization is delivering fuel and food to the communities. Part of the review from last year is at what point do we institute standard operating procedures if things are not going as planned. Preplanning happens in advance of the season. What are those things that are going to trigger? So agree with the Member, standard operator procedures are important. Last year was an anomaly, understanding that the Member referenced an incident a few years prior. But, yes, standard operating procedures are key but the core of delivering food, fuel to the community is priority number 1 for the organization.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Well, if that's a priority, MTS has failed twice in my shortterm here since we took it over. That's not a good track record. So is there an intention to ever create a written policy that says we're going to resupply communities first and everything else comes after that? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, yes.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Okay, thanks, Madam Chair. That's great. When can we see that written policy? Thank you.
Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we'll have to get back to the Member. That is not tomorrow. We'll have to get back to the Member in terms of what our plans are. You know, it is very important that we you know, we look at this, and it's I'm presenting to standing committee on some of the lessons learns through MTS. And that's you know, we're looking at dates now. And I think, you know, that's a really good opportunity to be able to explain what are some of the challenges that we face in getting our fuel into the communities or supplies into the communities and having to deal with climate change and getting our tugs out of Hay River, for example. So, I mean, that is something that we will we are gathering some information now so that we can present to the committee. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I can hardly wait for that meeting. But I do want to ask now about Yellowknife Airport Revolving Fund on page 283. It's now a staggering $49 million of accumulated surplus. When are we going to start to get some of that money out the door to actually improve what's happening at the airport? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I want to start by saying this is not real money that's on here but I'm going to have Ms. Lee explain why. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So the Minister is correct in that it is not cash dollars when it comes to the $49 million. When it comes to the accumulated surplus, it is a total of operational surpluses and funds but it is of majority of it assets. So if these are all in capital asset figures, they are not money that we can spend, unless we choose to sell some of them. But it is not cash dollars. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Okay. Before the clock runs out completely, can I get a number for what is available to actually spend on capital improvements at the airport and when we're going to start spending some of that money? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we are looking at about $10 million just over $10 million. Thank you.
Thank you. Member.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And thanks to the Minister. Okay, that was the first part. Second part, when are we going to start spending that money? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we are starting to spend the money. We've got a list of all the different projects that we're doing with the revolving fund. And there are things like preboard screening upgrade, the lounge expansion. The list goes on. I'm not going to use up the Member's time, but we are spending this money. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Are Members able to get that list? Thank you. Member.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Yeah, I'd love to see the list. Does that mean the master plan is now finished; we've got a fully functioning committee, whatever that thing is called, and is appointed by the Minister rather than the deputy minister. So the money's going to start to flow, changes are going to happen. That's what I want to see. People have been paying airport improvement fees for a long time without seeing a lot of progress. You can't even get a cup of coffee apparently on the air side of the terminal at 6 o'clock in the morning. So what's when are we going to start spending this money and get some improvements going? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, as I mentioned, we are spending the money. The YZF master plan is in the final stages. The contractor will present some of the more recent findings, information. We do have a YZF it's called the economic advisory committee. So, I mean, this is a committee that continues to meet, and it's made up of a number of people that are impacted at the Yellowknife Airport. The regional office is working with the contractor finalizing some of the data, and we're hoping to update standing committee perhaps in the spring. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. And just to clarify, because I don't know if you got the list that you were going to go through, you're able to provide that to the Members?
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we can come back to the Members or whoever's interested in looking at what we've spent out at the Yellowknife Airport in terms of using some of the revolving fund. We can get back and see if we're able to share. Thank you.
Thank you. All right. Are there any further questions? Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We've come to my favourite part of the main estimates, which is page 285, $127 million we are going to pay in future lease payments largely to one company. But I wanted to start with a question about the new government building, the Sot Dene I've actually never said that out loud. The theory was when we spent that $25 million was that it would save us money yet we were required to do a lease to own commitment. I'm just wondering if we've ever followed up with whether that was a cheaper option or a more expensive option to build ourselves a sevenstorey office building. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we'll have to it's not something we can just answer right now. It's something that we need to look into and perhaps get back to the Member with that. Thank you.
