Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I've been informed there's been a bit of vandalism on that beautiful piece of equipment, so I guess I would really like the department to look at maybe switching the ferries and getting the Merv Hardie into Fort Simpson, and we can use the Fort Simpson ferry to be moved up to Tsiigehtchic. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Laughter
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Would the Minister like to respond?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess, just to make a comment on the vandalism that happened when the ferry was parked at the Deh Cho Bridge crossing, and that's one of the reason we moved it to where it is. So thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Anything further, Mr. Thompson?
…ferry in Fort Simpson at some time soon, so, without the other one breaking down. So, thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Anything further on marine transportation? Seeing nothing, we'll call the page. Transportation, marine, operations expenditure summary, activity total, $7,887,000. Agreed?
Agreed.
Moving on to road licensing and safety, the activity total is on page 424. We can discuss the detail on page 425 to begin with. Questions on page 425, active positions, road licensing and safety, active positions, page 425? Moving on to page 424, road licensing and safety, operations expenditure summary, questions? Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just under safety, you know, I notice in the past they used to do a lot of highway patrols, but it doesn't seem like, in my region anyway, it doesn't seem to be as much highway patrols. You know, at times, there tends to be a little bit of speeding. So, you know, I think it would be a great idea to do a lot more highway patrols, just to have a little more safety on the highways, especially on the Dempster. It gets pretty dusty, and it would be nice to have some patrolling on the stretch there. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Comments, Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The highway patrol patrols commercial traffic only, and we still continue to do that on a regular basis. As for public speeding and other safety issues, that's an RCMP logistic issue, so that's something that the Member would have to take up with the RCMP. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Maybe things have changed, but I recall a few years back the highway patrol actually giving out tickets on the highways, so I'm not sure what's changed there. But what are the changes, maybe I could ask him? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Highway patrol only patrols commercial traffic, not the general public. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Blake? Nothing further from Mr. Blake. Any more comments or questions on page 424? Seeing none, we'll call the page. Transportation. Mr. Testart.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. In the 20152016 revised estimates under computer hardware and software, there was no expenditure, and this year we're back to $30K. I'm just wondering what we went from $54,000 to nothing to $30,000. Can the Minister provide some detail on computer hardware and software? I understand that's not related to TSC Services. That's contained in the chargeback line. So, if we could get more detail? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll let Deputy Minister Neudorf answer that.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Neudorf.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It was an internal adjustment. We put $30,000 into that computer hardware and software line item, and it had to do with our road licensing and safety system, our DRIVES system, our motor vehicle system that manages all of the driver and vehicle licensing issues. And so we have been upgrading that system over the years with online services, and we've had a budget pressure there. We were able to meet that internally by reallocating some funding of $30,000. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Neudorf. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So did it not cost anything last estimates, or was it just not budgeted for, was it found elsewhere? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Neudorf.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. It's very likely that, as we've expanded the system, expanded on-line services, this line item became a little bit more. Instead of being able to bury it into one of the other line items here, we decided it was time to make it its own separate line item of $30,000 to properly track the budget. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Neudorf. Mr. Testart. Nothing further from Mr. Testart. Any other questions, page 424? Seeing none. I will call the page, Transportation, road licensing and safety, operations expenditure summary, activity total $5,655,00. Agreed?
Agreed.
We have one information item left, on page 426, work performed on behalf of others. Questions on this page, page 426. I'll give committee a moment. I see no questions. We can return to the department total on page 405. Do we have any final questions on the department total, page 405? Transportation, department total. I see no questions. I'll call this page. Transportation, department total, $125,199,000. Agreed?
Agreed.
Does committee agree we have concluded consideration of the Department of Transportation?
Agreed.
Thank you, Members. Thank you to the Minister and his witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber. I'll turn to the Minster responsible for opening comments, Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm pleased to present the 2016-2017 Main Estimates for the Department of Public Works and Services. The department's estimates will support the core programs and services which help achieve our government-wide goals while providing the best value to the government, communities, businesses, and residents of the Northwest Territories. These estimates propose an increase of $1.4 million, or one per cent from the 2015-2016 Main Estimates, which is budgeted at $120 million.
Highlights of the proposed estimates include:
continued investment in operations and maintenance for new and aging building infrastructure to ensure the availability of facilities to support the delivery of government programs and services;
the creation of four positions for cross-department support to implement the final phase of the Government of the Northwest Territories' Digital Integrated Information Management System;
a $3.5 million contribution to the Arctic Energy Alliance, including a $760,000 one-time enhancement to support residential and commercial energy conservation and efficiency programs; and
the department's proposed budget reductions in response to our government's call to address our fiscal situation.
These proposed Department of Public Works and Services estimates support the priorities of the 18th Assembly. Specific activities in support of these priorities include the promotion and support of the use of energy efficient technologies in the public and private sectors and increasing the production of renewable and alternative energy.
The department's capital asset retrofit fund program reduces the cost to government in operating buildings through the delivery of energy efficiency upgrades and the installation of renewable energy solutions. For example, in just seven years, capital asset retrofit fund projects have helped achieve a reduction of 24 per cent in the total energy intensity in the Government of the Northwest Territories schools. Savings from the implementation of energy efficiency and alternative energy projects such as biomass resulted in an annual utility reduction of $1.8 million in 2015-16, which is returned to the Capital Asset Retrofit Fund Program to finance further energy efficiency upgrades. In addition to this significant savings in taxpayer dollars, greenhouse gas emissions reductions of nearly 9,000 tonnes were also achieved. The departmental Capital Asset Retrofit Fund budget for 2016-2017 is $3.8 million.
In addition to the substantial support being provided to the Arctic Energy Alliance, the department is undertaking a number of other energy initiatives, including $720,000 for the development of a solar project and variable speed generator in Aklavik to allow for a high penetration of solar into the local electricity system; $250,000 to continue feasibility and design work for a proposed wind project in Inuvik; and funding to support the development of a new Energy Plan.
The deferred maintenance program has a proposed 2016-17 budget of $8 million, including $3 million in capital and $5 million in operations and maintenance improvements. The deferred maintenance program remains an essential part of our department's overall strategy to address the deficit in building infrastructure needs essential to the delivery of government programs and services. The program is coordinated with the capital planning process, energy conservation investments, and our regular preventative maintenance program to maximize effectiveness. The current deferred maintenance backlog is calculated at $214 million, which is a significant reduction from the $470 million first identified in 2007-08. While the department anticipates continued pressure on deferred maintenance in 2016-17 and beyond related to the normal aging of our asset base, continued investment in the deferred maintenance program will ensure that buildings continue to be safe for occupancy and that critical deferred maintenance items are addressed to maximize the useful life of these assets.
The Technology Service Centre is an important program for the government and a major focus for our department. The technology service centre's service costs of nearly $23 million are recovered entirely through chargebacks to client departments and government agencies, so we are always seeking efficiencies by evaluating and implementing innovative technologies to better serve the needs of our clients. The increased use of modern, web-based applications, data collection and analysis, and the evolving global information security environment are just a few of the challenges that the technology service centre is committed to meeting.
It is through these and other department activities that Public Works and Services will continue to provide its many clients with the high quality of services they have come to rely upon and assist the Government of the Northwest Territories and the 18th Assembly in achieving its goals. This concludes my opening remarks. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
I would.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my right is Mr. Paul Guy. He's our deputy minister. On his right is Laurie Gault, and she is the director of Technological Service Centre. On my left is Vince McCormick, and he's the director of corporate services. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. We will now proceed to consider the detail of the Department of Public Works and Services. We will begin by deferring the departmental summary on page 377 and we can start discussing the detail beginning on page 378, revenue summary. Any questions on page 378, to revenue summary? Comments or questions on revenue summary? Seeing none. We'll move on to page 379, active position summary. Questions on active position summary? Seeing none, we can move on to asset management. It begins at page 381 with the activity total. We will begin by discussing active positions on page 382. Asset management, active positions, page 382. Questions, comments? Committee has no questions or comments. Back to page 381, operations expenditure summary. Questions on page 381? I'll call the page. Public Works and Services, asset management, operations expenditure summary, activity total, $97,003,000. Agreed?
Agreed.
On to directorate. We can begin discussing the details on page 385 of the directorate, active positions. Page 385. Questions from committee? I see no questions. We'll move to the operations expenditure summary on page 384. I'll give committee a moment. Any questions, page 384? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. There are a couple of significant changes in the program details there. Corporate information management is up about $600,000 and finance is down about half a million dollars. I was just wondering if someone from the department can explain those changes? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the corporate information management, we have four positions with the DIMs, new positions. And then the finance, there are long-term benefits and the leave was gone. It now goes into its own budget, so that's where the variances are on those. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I'm feeling a little dim. What does DIIMS stand for?
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's the electronic records management, so I believe it's Digital Information Management. So it's the records management for us. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks. And just further down on the page there, contract services, there is a pretty big reduction there. Can someone explain that, please? Thank you.
