Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This issue was touched on a bit yesterday with some of the questions in the House and it’s on our list that we’ve been working our way through and we’re not there yet.

We recognize the need, the same as we had this discussion with Mr. Hawkins on things like shredders for tires and vehicles. Mr. Yakeleya raised the issue of cleaning up all the old vehicles that are scattered across the North and it’s a question of time, resources and capacity. Just this rollout of the electronic waste issue, for example, has taken a considerable amount of time to get operational.

So we...

Thank you, Madam Chair. It’s all accounted through the variance process. There’s ability to move money between activities in a department, so the money is always all accounted for at year-end. Some cases, like in capital, will have carry-overs. I will ask the deputy if he wants to add anything further on that particular issue. Thank you.

In follow up on our discussion in the Committee of the Whole yesterday, yes.

The majority of caribou herds are under pressure not only in the Northwest Territories but we’ve seen that to the east, as well, with the George River and Leaf River herds and some of the herds farther to the west. The one herd that has been doing well, the Porcupine, they have the benefit of, I think, a very, very good management plan that took about seven years to agree to. They think the Bluenose-East plan is going to hopefully hit that standard as well. The Bathurst Management Plan is still somewhere in the future. Unfortunately, the complex area, unsettled claims combined with some...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. The impact on the borrowing limit at the time was considered along with what would be the longer term cost if we shut the project down and didn’t start it up again or try to start it up later in the season or lose half of a building season. It was determined that it would make far more sense for us to advance the money, keep the project going, keep the 400 people or 500 people employed, and have that benefit up in the Beaufort-Delta plus keep the project on target and on time.

At the time as well, that predated what we knew later to be the worst fire season in our...

Thank you. I appreciate the Member’s suggestion and I’ll have a discussion with the department about how that would fit in. We’re only a couple of months away from fire season. It might be something that takes a little more time than that. It might get flagged for a transition issue with the government, but we’ll take a look at the Member’s suggestion and his comments will have a great bearing on the outcome. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m familiar with the letter. As the Member indicated, it’s from last November. The letter is somewhat dated. There has been a lot of water under the bridge on that particular issue. The deputy minister has been personally handling a lot of the work and discussions on the Bluenose-East, the issue of the allocation and the discussion with the boards and the communities, so I would ask the deputy just to give a quick update of the circumstance that would address those seven issues which have been, as I indicated, I think, overtaken by some other events.

Thank you. I’ll get the deputy to be more specific. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This position which came over with part of the devolution transfer is going to have a key role in the region. It’s going to give us a specialized person on water for the first time in the region. The issue of tracking, understanding and helping with plain language, trying to keep track of all the things that are happening in the region in terms of compliance and spills would be one of the functions. But what I would ask, Mr. Chairman, with your indulgence, is the deputy to speak a bit further to some of the specifics in terms of the job requirements.

Thank you. First, if I just may comment, this full cost accounting, the final supplementary request for the fire season to close the books was reviewed this morning in committee and is in the process to come before the House. So, that work has been done. It was in and out of committee this morning. So it’s not quite accurate to say that the Legislature is being asked to take things on faith or without having seen what the costs are. We have demonstrated that, I think, through the supplementary requests.

In regards to the Tuk-Inuvik highway in terms of the cash and the impact on our short-term...