Robert C. McLeod

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we do learn from year to year on why projects are delayed and if there is an opportunity for us to get everything finalized, get the contracts out the door, have them awarded, have the contractors ordering their material or whatever they need to do to be ready for when the money starts being appropriated in April. It's a learning process. Again, we try to get as many of these projects out the door as quickly as possible, but, with anything we do within the government, it's a learning process, and we try to go with best practices and see what works well so...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As far as what got done last year, I would have to follow up and see exactly how much was done last year. The Member has some concerns about the amount of carry-overs, but I would be positive that there was substantial work done last year. I will gather the information and share it with the Member.

We provided a brief note, I believe, to committee of some of the questions they had this morning. I am not sure if it went into enough detail, but I would be willing to make the commitment to follow up on that and see what got done last year.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my understanding is the contract is in place. I am not sure if we have had any discussions with the contractor as to a completion date, but I will follow up with the appropriate department. June? The end of June is the completion date. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes. It was May 31, 2018.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, that is correct. With a lot of the work on the highway, if you use the carry-over, the original budget, some of the work was done, but with the carry-overs it's work that still needs to be done that wasn't able to be completed last year. So I would assume in this case, Highway No. 7, there was about, $3 million was the original budget, $2.4 million was expended, and we have $628,000 left. Anytime you see that, it's obviously carry-over because work wasn't completed.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my understanding is there will be an additional investment in this year of $250,000. Some of that money is going to the Energy Efficiency Technology Program. Then, looking at the numbers in future years, they are going to be getting another investment next year, right up to 2021-2022; $300,000 next year; 350,000 the year after; and 350,000 the year after that. I take the Member's point. We hear more and more people switching over. If the money is lapsed in the first two months, then it is something that we will have to look at and try to address. There is going...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, our business planning starts in September for the operations budget. Capital plans is the one we debate in the October session, and it used to be a little later. At least that's my understanding while I was part of this Assembly, when we'd debate the capital budget a little later than that. Then we heard some concerns about the ability to get the projects contracted, out the door, material ordered, while we still have a winter road, so that is one of the reasons we changed the approval process to October. I think, for the most part, it has worked fairly...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, if I could, I would like to go to Minister Abernethy, the Minister of Health and Social Services. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my understanding with the folks who pay for power and that, I am looking forward to seeing what benefits there are from this particular project. My understanding is it's a three-year project. There is work to be done over the next three years. In looking into this further, there seems to be a lot more to it than I initially thought, and I thought they could get it up in one year, but it didn't work that way. It's my understanding it's a three-year project, and we're looking forward to seeing any benefits that might come from it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, it's another lesson learned. We will endeavour to provide a greater level of detail as to exactly what needs to be done on these projects. We are kind of looking at the overall number, the $891,000, and seeking the Assembly's approval to carry these over. I've heard now a couple of questions about the detail, so we will take that into consideration as we go forward and make sure that we come back to this floor with the appropriate detail. Thank you, Mr. Chair.