Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 13, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2004-2005, be read for the third time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I started out in response to the Member, the Government of the Northwest Territories has, on an annual basis, as well as targeted for future cost initiatives, looked at the way we do business, looked at what type of fixtures we use in our offices, lighting fixtures, for example, as well as looked at vehicle operations, and looked at the appliances that were being put into the Housing Corporation units to ensure that they were cost effective and knew that we would see a savings. So we have done a lot of those things on a daily basis, in a sense, to try to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a government, we have on a number of occasions through budget exercises, looked at the consumption of our resources, whether it be heating oil, electrical, water and sewer; we’ve looked at those in areas and targeted areas we think we could have some savings in. The Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development has done some work in the past. The Housing Corporation has done some work in the past in trying to save the precious resources we have out there. As the Government of the Northwest Territories, we do have a number of other things...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for four days, we discussed this supplementary appropriation and the Members made it quite clear that they were concerned with a number of items and, as we hear here today, the process as well.

Mr. Speaker, the process that we used is one that is established and as the Premier said earlier, we will gladly sit down with Members to discus how we would go about this. This bill was put together within the rules we operate by. Yes, there are a large amount of special warrants within this supplementary appropriation. Forest fires, which were in the summertime...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess we can send a directive out that all light bulbs will be no brighter than 40 watts, but we are doing our work on a daily basis and trying to address the very issues the Member has raised. The problem is that we cannot build into a budget exercise anticipated costs where we might see some of those double. But on the ongoing basis of daily program services, how long a vehicle idles for, what type of fixtures we use in buildings, hours of operation, we’ve done those things. Departments have put those things in place. When we set targets for departments...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on an annual basis, we work with the departments to try to come up with their costs they will need to run the programs and services identified for that year. One of the things we do, again, is we do our work and look at the existing costs of services out there. The Member is right, though; we will be having to look at and address the issue of the increased price of fuel. That is something we have directed the departments to live within their means at this point because we knew that the prices were changing quite substantially; either on the high side or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to oral question asked by Mr. Hawkins on October 19, 2004, regarding the Aurora College lease in Northern United Place.

The lease at Northern United Place is administered by Aurora College in Fort Smith. I have been advised that the lease expires on August 31, 2007, and has two five-year renewal options.

My department has been working with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to review various accommodation options for Aurora College. The discussions are very preliminary and no decisions have yet been made. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. It is every three years we end up going through this process. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The process that’s used and this government has taken a proactive approach, that we have moved as soon as taking office to address the issue of Legal Aid services and a family law clinic, so they can go ahead and hire the lawyers necessary and get that ready. Once we knew the size of the facility, what was going to be required, there is going to be a refit cost that we are aware of. It was brought forward on the basis that this was going to be needed when you look at the type of space that’s required, the changes that would be made, this estimate was brought forward...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the project itself will be substantially more than what this is. This item is just the first little piece of it. On page 19 of the document is a further amount that is being requested or that we’ve…(inaudible)…accounted for. In the 2004-2005 year we’re looking at $3.4 million. When this work is done, on the operational side we estimate will be another $160,000 ongoing just for operations and maintenance. The rest of the plan will fall into the normal procedures through the business plan, through the capital infrastructure process. It’s my understanding that...