Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Madam Chair. The existing base funding was $2.527 million. The contract amount was $3.069 million. There’s a shortfall of $542,000 and the cost drivers of the increased costs for dietary, housekeeping and laundry services related to the contract. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don’t have that breakdown. Based on my recollection, we fought, on average, a normal number of fires. What we did have was an extremely dry season, a season where lightning started a month earlier, for example, a season that extended into September. We know that in just about every region there were major fires near communities requiring the mobilization of all our resources we had available, as well as importing resources from Alberta, Alaska, and any jurisdiction that we could get resources from, because every other jurisdiction in the country was facing the same...

Other than I think it was referred to as destructive testing to find out what was actually there, that was referenced yesterday, this is the only work that has been done in terms of the demolition and remediation. Thank you.

There has been, speaking as the former Health Minister, an ongoing struggle with the authorities and deficits. Clearly, as they go through their operations items like this, program areas like this that are unfunded and the authority can no longer afford to carry that without incurring a deficit are coming to light and being identified, and we’re coming forward to clear them off. The same as we’ve done with some of the costs, if I refer back to the Stanton issue, as well, with their dietary, laundry, and those types of service areas.

Madam Chair, I would ask if the Member would give me the number, I would be able to get you an answer.

I don’t believe there’s any biomass projects yet in Deline. One of the considerations would have to be to do the costing of the shipping in of the biomass, and compare that all-in economic cost to that of the diesel. I still think it would demonstrate a savings, but I don’t believe there are existing biomass projects in Deline in government infrastructure.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have with me Mr. Michael Aumond, deputy minister of Finance; Mr. Russ Neudorf, deputy minister of Transportation; and Mr. Sandy Kalgutkar, deputy secretary to the FMB.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here to present Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2012-2013. This document provides for a decrease of $1.26 million for capital investment expenditures in the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

Major items in this supplementary estimates include:

$300,000 for the Department of Public Works and Services for investments under the NWT Energy Plan for energy upgrades to the Grandfather Ayah School in Deline;

$375,000 for the Department of Justice to complete the renovations of Courtroom No. 1 at the Yellowknife Courthouse;

a transfer of $3.9 million from...

Thank you. What I did say was that we are of the mind, as a government, that it’s not an appropriate time to be adding new tax burdens onto Northerners, that we struggle with cost of living issues in all of our communities, that it’s a challenge to businesses as well. So what we want to foster is a strong economy, which will give us more revenue as opposed to us as a government putting more taxes out there. So our focus has been on trying to put in infrastructure, look at how we do business to be as supportive as possible in an economically and environmentally sustainable way to encourage...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 8, An Act to Amend the Securities Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.