Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, happy to take that as a suggestion to establish targets. I mean, really, the target is for no project to go significantly over budget, and there's an obligation on all of our project management teams across departments to work to that goal. But, Mr. Speaker, again, always looking for opportunities to continue to do better. There's been a lot of change in the procurement space and the project planning space in the last few years, and again, very happy to take it away and see what more we can do in that regard. Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, committed to continuous improvement. And, Mr. Speaker, I want to give a few examples quickly. I know it's question period and the clock is running down, but, Mr. Speaker, Inuvik wind has come up a few times. That is a problem -- project that's had a number of different problems arise over the course of it. I can say that the Northwest Territories Power Corporation intends to do a review of that, intends to do a lessons learned, to ensure that even if we can explain each individual challenge, each and every one of them we should be looking at to try to ensure...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the only element in that formula that I read out earlier that's changed is the commission that we're paying to the contractor in Inuvik, and that commission that we're paying to the contractor in Inuvik is the negotiations that would go on with any proponent. And that was when we had to extend -- or sought to extend the contract that they had previously. During that negotiation, the commission that they negotiated for themselves went up, and so the prices have gone up. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I am more than happy to retract those comments. I certainly didn't want to leave any impression that Members of this House don't respect the public service. So I apologize, and I take it back.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is right now a request for proposals out. That closes on November the 8th, Mr. Speaker. There's also a separate procurement process in place looking to actually have a new lease for the space where we would be able to sell -- or where a proponent would be able to sell alcohol in the North -- in Inuvik, the hope being that by splitting up the contract a little more it brings on, perhaps, a bit of competition and an opportunity to try to keep some costs a little bit lower, understanding that it's getting more expensive to do just about everything in the North. So...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I will try not to take the full ten minutes here. Mr. Chair, I wanted to make sure there's some clarity -- I hope there's some clarity around what happens by voting down the capital budget and what message is being, in fact, sent.

Mr. Chair, respectfully, we are saying no to capital projects and to the capital -- when we vote down the capital budget. And contrary to a lot of things often asked about about improving our planning, improving our efficiency, doing better in all of those regards, this does the opposite. We vote down the capital budget, there is no...

Mr. Speaker, when the public utility board, or PUB, accepted the terms of sale from the Hay River utility franchise to the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, or NTPC, earlier this year, it set a deadline of October 30th for the filing of a general rate application, or GRA, by all Northwest Territories' utility companies. On Wednesday afternoon, NTPC filed a GRA, and so over the next several months, the PUB will review the application to ultimately determine whether the costs that NTPC has presented are reasonable and reflect the true cost to deliver electricity.

The GRA process is managed...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would have to look back over time and see the degree to which that has been considered but also whether or not that impacts any of the work that's happening. As I've said, for right now the work that is coming through in terms of some of the repair of potholes and ruts that have arisen over the course of the summer, that is getting dealt with as much as possible before too much snowfall. And with the snowfall, they are doing what they can to, you know, still monitor and do some ice blading, some snow plowing, to try to mitigate where there were some tough spots. So...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been a tough year -- or a tough season for a lot of the roads in the Northwest Territories, including this stretch of particular highway. There were some challenges this year with maintenance, Mr. Speaker. One of the contracts that had gone out -- it went out, and there was a request for a negotiated contract. That slowed down the procurement process. We were able to ask the existing contractor to continue to maintain the road but certainly not the same as having someone in place more permanently. So although the work was getting done, it wasn't...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, all communities across the Northwest Territories need to continue to be invested in, and analysis gets done, whether it's department of health looking at long-term care facilities, whether it's education looking at educational needs, those processes continue. One of the things that does come to me from looking at the audit is the importance of having good planning, is the importance of having good records, and quite frankly, is the importance of having all of that consolidated in one place with experts in that area and that is something that we do now have...