Michael Miltenberger

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 11, Financial Administration and Public Agency Statutes (Borrowing Provisions) Amendment Act, be read for the first time. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document, titled “Natural Resources Conservation Trust Fund Annual Report 2012-2013.” Thank you.

I would suggest that if folks are interested, businesses are interested, that they look to the subsidies and grants that are available to start up and assist with alternative energy infrastructure; solar, biomass and that type of thing. Those have been increased; the amount of money has been raised; the ceilings have been raised so that the level of support, and I believe where it was $25,000 is up to $50,000. So if they’re just wanting to get started today and they want to think about it, then they’ve got to do their plan and they’ve got to buy the infrastructure and I think that would be the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That review is pretty well done. We’re migrating from net billing to net metering. That work is underway. We’re going through the process. We anticipate that by this fall we will be ready to move to go to the PUB and such. We, as well, have a briefing scheduled next week with committee to update them on the status of this particular initiative.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, June 3, 2013, I will move that Bill 23, Supplementary Appropriation (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2013-2014, be read for the first time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The money identified here tied to winter roads is clearly going to be put to use, as the Member pointed out. They travelled the winter road last winter. There was a lot of traffic. It was heavily pounded out and, in fact, shut down at different times.

The issue of the Oscar Bridge, I would ask Minister Ramsay if he would want to speak specifically to the fate of that particular piece of infrastructure.

Thank you. The numbers, the percentage of carry-over is higher than we would like, and every year we try to move as much of the work through the system as possible. Again, it’s something that we continue to work at, but I appreciate the Member’s comments.

The good news is we have, in fact, money that we can spend in addition to we’re committed to the projects, and we’re going to be coming forward, as well, with an additional capital plan here in the fall. So we will be applying ourselves once again to see if we can make sure that we get all of these done as physically possible.

When the Giant Mine Remediation Project was initiated, the GNWT’s share that we put on for a lot of the surface work, $23 million back in 2004-05, and as the remediation project proceeded, the issue of the road became relevant and to the fore. So what was a decision that was made, that $23 million was in O and M. So it was agreed that we would reprofile and reclassify $17 million of that $23 million to cover the cost of this road that’s being put in around Giant Mine. So it’s not detracting from other capital projects, it’s not being taken from a pot that was dedicated for other areas or other...

Yes, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, we have tried to indicate that that number was already there in initial appropriation and is now being expended and it is now being accounted for at this juncture with this carry-over request. Now it is time to use that. It is not going to be added to the project cost. It is already part of the project cost.