Sandy Lee

Just one last question. Mr. Chairman, does the Minister have any information about how much more we would be required to allocate for this litigation? It appears that it’s in a beginning stage, but I think there might be some information there that the Minister is aware of that would suggest that this would go multi-millions more. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. This is another potential liability amount that we are supposed to, I think, put on the books. But reading the explanation for this it’s still quite puzzling, because it is largely, I think, for now anyway, until we know what the outcome of the litigation might be, it really is an accounting exercise to make sure that we have some funds allocated as a potential liability. But I’m just wondering why we have to do this, because it seems to me that the litigation is in such an initial stage, that we really don’t know what the final outcome might be; and why would anything like this...

I’m sorry; I still don’t understand why we had to pay out $2.69 million.

Okay, so it’s page 5 of the schedule.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We could argue about this, but let me tell you the union has a designate, and that designate is not permitted to represent the appellant. I think that is another way of saying that it is a prop. Mr. Speaker, the Minister is not saying this, but I am getting a feeling that there is a process being worked out that may not be agreeable to the union. It is going to be maybe an opinion process that would not involve the employer or the union, it would just be a whole third-party process. Maybe that works for us, but I think the Minister is making a big mistake if he is...

Good question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as Members, we get so much information that we are not always certain if we might have just missed something when something comes up. I believe the consensus in AOC is that this whole issue has not been brought to the committee yet. We are well aware that the government is moving ahead with centralizing human resources sections of the government, which is what most of the Members in this House wanted. Going by what people are saying on the street, it is moving forward. I am really thinking that any changes to the appeal process should be part and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If you look at the budget for 2003-04, the budget for the fuel was $320,000, but the actual expenditure was $620,000. That’s $300,000 more. It’s almost 100 percent more than what was budgeted. For power, the budget was $440,000, but the actual rate was $1.018 million. That’s $578,000 more. That’s more than 100 percent of what was originally budgeted. I think maintenance costs are maybe two-thirds of a PY more and one could see that as something that could happen, but for heating fuel and power, we are talking about 100 percent more than was originally thought. This...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as many Members are aware, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As it has for the last 13 years in Canada, and for the 11th year in Yellowknife, CIBC Run for the Cure was held on October 3rd of this year. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to also advise you that this year CIBC Run for the Cure was held in many of our northern sister communities including Inuvik, Iqaluit, Hay River, Rankin Inlet, Norman Wells, Fort Simpson, and Fort Smith. Once again, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report to you that Yellowknife has kept up with its reputation for breaking...

Thank you. I appreciate that because I know that the Members have talked about the rising incidents of violence and vandalism, and there are lots of schools in Yellowknife that are subject to all sorts of incidents of nuisance or violence or vandalism. There are lots of windows being kicked in, or where there are youth roaming around and stuff. I have had the occasion to talk to the school boards about the increasing costs and I know there is some concern about not only extra insurance premiums you have to pay for the extra cost of covering those damages, but also preventive measures they...