Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Dec. 3rd, 2014

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Okay, perfect.

I want to go to the infrastructure piece. Again, when we're looking at—I had seen it in the document here—community infrastructure, the supplementary estimates request an allocation of $44.8 million to support the construction and maintenance of community infrastructure, such as water treatment facilities, school boards, roads, and other capital projects

I'm wondering and you could maybe correct me if I'm wrong with respect to the amount of dollars being invested, but could you tell me how much was actually cut from the previous budgets compared to what is being allocated now, given the cutbacks that every department has had? How is this impacting on infrastructure dollars being transferred over for education or social purposes into the first nations?

I'm trying to get some sense as to whether we will be able to meet our infrastructure needs, given that the cuts seem to be happening. Is the department or the government actually taking some of that money from infrastructure and putting it into education for the shortfalls?

[Colleen Swords]

There have been no government cuts to infrastructure. In fact, over the course of the last five or six years, there's been additional funding—I don't have all the figures here, but we can get them for you—provided for water and waste water under the first nations water and waste water program, which is additional to what we call our A-base.

There's been additional funding for schools provided in 2012. We got an additional $175 million for three years, and the Prime Minister just announced the $500 million that we have for schools over the next, I think it's five years...or is it six?

[Scott Stevenson]

Seven.

[Colleen Swords]

Forgive me, it's seven years.

We also had additional money in the context of the economic action plan. I think it was budget 2008-09 that was dedicated to infrastructure. Some of it was used for schools. Some of it was used for water. Some of it was used for housing and housing preparation. There haven't been any cuts.

What we're reflecting and talking about are reallocations that are done in-year, when you find that a particular planning for funding of a project you have can't be spent. That can happen when you have a large project that requires contract awarding, the contract comes in, the bids come in at too high an amount, so you have to redo it, and then it ends up in a different fiscal year.

Infrastructure often requires multi-year allocations and multi-year funding. It's very hard, with the amount of infrastructure funding that we have, to get on the nail every single year the exact amount. We don't lapse that funding. We use it for other programming that relates to the needs of first nations.

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

You are actually taking funding from the infrastructure pot and reallocating it to education and maybe some of the social programs.

[Colleen Swords]

When there is a need in a particular year, we do reallocate as needed, to make sure that all of our requirements are met. With some of the programming that we have, we're kind of price takers; it depends on the number of students you have in a particular year. Whereas with infrastructure, there's a little more flex. We can say that we're going to spend the money this year or in the next year.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Mr. Genest-Jourdain, you had a follow-up question.

[Jonathan Genest-Jourdain, NDP, Manicouagan, QC]

I have a short question.

Supplementary estimates (B) seeks $38.2 million in funding for the construction of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station. Does the construction of the research station afford northerners any opportunities? What about Inuit? Will it have an impact on them? Were the potential benefits on Inuit populations in the north taken into account?

[Colleen Swords]

We hope it will have a significant impact on the community of Cambridge Bay.

There will be a strong science and technology international world-class facility there. There will be researchers and people coming from all around the world. There will inevitably be opportunities for the community to provide services to them. Students who are there will be able to take part in some of the tours, internships, and so forth in that community. There is a strong effort to make sure that Inuit students from that area are exposed to the kind of science and technology that will take place.

The building isn't done yet. The ground was broken in August of this year and the building won't be completed until 2017. There won't be specific opportunities for students until then.

There has been about, I'm just reading here, 15 work packages. Parts of the program have been tendered. It's about $30 million so far and 60% of those contracts were undertaken by Inuit-owned or the NTI-registered firms. There is a strong effort to make sure that as much of the procurement as possible goes to Inuit organizations.

[Jonathan Genest-Jourdain, NDP, Manicouagan, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Thank you, Ms. Bennett.

You just had one follow-up question. I'll allow a short question, then an opportunity for the answer, and then we'll opt to adjourn.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Definitely. I need to know, in terms of the Arctic, what is the status of the polar shelf project in Resolute and Tuktoyaktuk, and do we have a reason why there's a new one there rather than adding on to the two that already existed? I would love that in a written answer.

I'm following up on Carol's question. In this document that was released during the Cindy Blackstock hearings where it says the resulting gap from internal reallocation—

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Ms. Bennett, I'm sure there will be opportunities to question with regards to other reports. Is there something with regards to—

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

No, no. This is about the infrastructure funding—

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Okay, so it's about the estimates.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

—meaning it's still in the estimates. The question I—

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Let's bring it back to the estimates if you can.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Yes. It is the community infrastructure, the $44.8 million to support from the supplementary estimates (B), but it sits on top of the reality that $505 million was removed from the A-base funding. It says, “This ongoing reallocation is putting pressure on an already strained infrastructure...and has still not been enough to adequately meet the needs of social and education programs.” They've been taking from infrastructure, moving to social and education, and adding huge pressure to infrastructure needs. Taking $505 million out of A-base funding and then putting $44 million back in, in supps, doesn't seem to make any sense.

[Colleen Swords]

Let me speak to the supps themselves. That $44.8 million relates to funding for operation return home for what we hope to accomplish as soon as we can with respect to getting people, the evacuees, back into their communities.

A small amount of that also relates to refunding money that we advanced for the High Arctic research station and now we're getting reimbursed through supps. There are a lot of times when money is allocated and then moved back and forth in order to accomplish all the objectives.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

In this document it says it's been going on for six years. Continually money is being taken from infrastructure and moved to other programs.

[Colleen Swords]

We also every year, when we have funds available, allocate additional funding into infrastructure projects that are—

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Ms. Bennett, I think I promised you a short question and a fulsome answer. I think that is done. Was there one additional question over here, Mr. Clarke?

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to ask the witnesses here, with the old food mail program that was designed under the Liberals, is it correct at that time—

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

It's not in the estimates.

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Let me finish, Mr. Chair.

Anyway, what I'm kind of curious—