Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For years this government has professed support for renewable energy and concern about cost of living. While enjoying reduced costs from converting our own infrastructure to renewables, we’ve hung communities out to dry. Soaring power costs to ratepayers and drains on tax revenues of hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies have been the result.

A sad case in point was the Fort Liard Geothermal Project. The Fort Liard Geothermal Project was led by private developer, Borealis GeoPower in partnership with the Acho Dene Koe First Nation of Fort Liard. The federal role...

I thought I heard we’ve got a $6 million capital budget for Finance here. Am I missing something? I think we’re dealing with the Department of Finance capital budget here. This seems to be a much more significant portion than I had originally thought. I just wanted to make sure I had the context right. Thank you.

Thank you for that information. I heard that there will be the $50,000 cost and I believe the deputy minister said some additional going to this project from operations. Perhaps I should know that amount. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just on the detail here, I’m just wondering if I can get a brief explanation of what an IT system to implement functionality within the treasury suite of applications to forecast cash requirements and manage portfolio investments means.

What about the substantial drop from last year to the proposed year here? Do we have any information handy on that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to welcome Dr. David Pontin into the House today, a constituent in the Weledeh riding, and any other constituents that I don’t know. Thank you. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess my concerns have ramped up annually based on the track we’ve taken, focus on infrastructure and money rather than people where the real potential for gains are. As I understand it from this budget and our current conditions, just starting with our current conditions, unexpected costs, $50 million for forestry, $20 million unexpected and un-consulted expenditures for further subsidies on electricity rates, $40 million indicated in this budget for the Inuvik-Tuk highway, that’s $110 million that goes against our borrowing limit and burrows into our $100 million debt...

Thanks for that response. During the rebuild of Stanton Hospital when the hospital basically becomes a construction site, it will be difficult to maintain the level of service that patients expect and require. The changeover period will be critical, and maintenance of the systems will be very challenging.

Will the Minister reassure the people of the North that the workers who know the physical plant and systems of the hospital best, those with up to 33 years’ experience maintaining the building and its functions, will be there to ensure their safety? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my earlier statement today with questions I believe are probably most appropriately directed to the Minister of Finance on the P3 projects for the rebuild of Stanton Hospital that’s proposed, although there are certainly elements for Health, Public Works and Services, Human Resources and so on as well.

On September 30th the Union of Northern Workers received an alert that eight maintenance services workers at Stanton Territorial Hospital may be laid off next summer. At the recent Stanton Hospital AGM on October 7th, Minister of Health and Social...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. GNWT labour relations recently informed the Union of Northern Workers that Stanton Territorial Hospital’s eight maintenance services workers are likely to face layoffs, possibly as early as June 2015. While Cabinet communications recently softened and confused this announcement, the writing is on the wall.

Stanton’s food services and housekeeping employees have already been privatized. With the public-private partnership approach to the Stanton rebuild project, this government is committing itself to yet more privatization of government jobs and long-term provision of...