Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve been around this Assembly long enough to know that when there are things that are ordered by the courts this government responds accordingly.
I would like to ask the Minister of Finance, do we, as a government, have funds set aside for emergencies, unforeseen things such as a court ordering this government to build a school. Do we have such a fund?
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We don’t have an emergency fund but if there is a requirement, as a government, we do the things necessary to comply.
In the past we have seen unforeseen circumstances such as schools that have burned down, infrastructure that was unexpectedly removed from our inventory. Somehow we have come around to replace such infrastructure, and I would imagine that a similar approach could be taken to finding the money to respond favourably to the court-ordered construction of gymnasiums for these two French schools.
I’d like to ask the Minister, what would be the process for appropriating such funds?
There would be a request coming forward to the FMB through either Justice or Education, or in this case maybe Public Works. If it’s a capital requirement to meet those obligations then we’d be making those decisions based on those recommendations.
I’d like to ask the Minister if he is aware of any submission that is already prepared or is being prepared with respect to responding to the order to build this gymnasium.
Work has been done by the various departments in anticipation of looking at the impact of the court order and looking at what would be required to comply.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the support of this Assembly, are this Minister and this government prepared to proceed to respond to this court order without further expense incurred trying to come up with ways to avoid it?
We have, as a government, been looking at every avenue to try to come to a satisfactory resolution, a compromise that would address both the court order and in some cases look at the surplus in school space that is an issue in some communities, but at the end of the day this issue will be resolved.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
