Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The million dollars, is that to look after Nunavut artifacts at our cost? Is that what that’s all about?

Okay. So is this $1.212 million strictly with respect to the Inuvik situation?

Thank you. I appreciate that we’re going to look at this and figure out how to try and repatriate people, including children. I guess the frustrating part is the Standing Committee on Social Programs did have a close look at this, made recommendations. I don’t think the program review office needs to redo that work. What’s needed now is some implementation on those recommendations.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I also wanted to ask a couple of questions on this. I know we’re putting in some millions of dollars to basically buy down the electricity rate throughout the NWT until a couple years down the road when we’re done with the increases, but I see here that we’re also covering them as they got bought down. They actually get parcelled out to the various customers and, obviously, GNWT is the biggest customer here, including the Housing Corporation. This is all on top of the 11 point something million for the Territorial Power Subsidy, so I don’t think it’s got anything to do...

Thank you. Obviously, it looks like, according to those figures, we’re talking about a 28 percent increase for adults and something along those lines for children. It seems like an extraordinary increase there to me. Is there any explanation for that? Thank you.

That’s ringing bells now. Have the values of the bonds gone up or down?

Of course, warming is also double the rate in this area compared to down south, and so we will be seeing impacts of that that are not on the road itself but that will connect to the road in an insidious way, and so there will be costs from that. But I am learning that so now the work to be done is not just the 50 bridges and so on, or 60 river crossings and 10 bridges, but it’s also to deal with this highly problematic 12 kilometres, and we have not designed the highway yet on how to deal with that 12 kilometres. Have I got that correct?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I had posed a question, if you will recall, to the Minister. Would you like me to repeat that question?

Obviously, for a project of this magnitude, significant work has to be done there. Just in response to the Minister’s response, I didn’t say it was bad. I said the trend of increasing debt is not something I’m happy with. The decisions that are being made that end up with that result.

I’d like to comment a little bit on the dreams, you know, that we want to be doing things. In fact, that’s probably the biggest source of my concerns, is that I am totally convinced we could be doing things, and I’m totally convinced we have the capacity within our people and the resources to do them. I’m...

I suspect we can conclude a little more than that, but I’ll leave it at that. I would say, also, that clearly is not 67 percent. It’s $200 million. In fact, as the costs go up, the proportion paid for by the Government of Canada goes down, despite the fact that the Minister indicated that the project would not proceed unless it was 75 percent. That’s an observation, but a concerning one. Is there not a policy, could I ask the Minister of Finance, that we’ve generally adhered to in the past where the Government of Canada in fact pays for the road building and GNWT pays and looks after...