CONTENTS

 

Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies

 

General Revenue Fund

Supplementary Estimates — No. 1

SaskBuilds and Procurement

Vote 13

SaskBuilds Corporation

Vote 86

 

 

TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE

of the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan

 

STANDING COMMITTEE ON

CROWN AND CENTRAL AGENCIES

 

Hansard Verbatim Report

 

No. 30 — Wednesday, November 29, 2023

 

[The committee met at 18:49.]

 

The Chair: — All right, good evening, everyone. Welcome to committee members, Minister, and your officials. I’d like to begin by just announcing the members of the committee. We’ve got members Steven Bonk, Fred Bradshaw, Noor Burki, Greg Lawrence, Dana Skoropad, and Doyle Vermette. Substituting in today we have Todd Goudy for Steven Bonk, and we have Mr. Love for Noor Burki, and Mr. Wotherspoon for Doyle Vermette.

 

We’re going to commit to supplementary estimates no. 1. I’d like to advise the committee that pursuant to rule 148(1), the following 2023‑24 supplementary estimates no. 1 were committed to the Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies on November 27th, 2023: vote 12, Finance — debt servicing; vote 13, SaskBuilds and Procurement; vote 86, SaskBuilds Corporation; vote 151, Municipal Financing Corporation of Saskatchewan; and vote 140, Saskatchewan Water Corporation.

 

General Revenue Fund

Supplementary Estimates — No. 1

SaskBuilds and Procurement

Vote 13

 

Subvote (SP07)

 

The Chair: — Today we will be considering the supplementary estimates no. 1 for the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement and SaskBuilds Corporation. We will begin with vote no. 13, SaskBuilds and Procurement, major capital asset acquisitions, subvote (SP07).

 

Minister Hargrave is here with his officials. As a reminder to officials, please state your name for the record before speaking and please don’t touch the microphones. The Hansard operator will turn your microphone on when it’s your turn to speak. Minister, please introduce your officials and make your opening comments.

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. You know, I have my deputy minister, Denise Macza, with me. And anybody else? Yeah. And so anyway, they’ll introduce themselves. They’ll be answering questions as they come along.

 

So anyway, I can give you some opening comments, Mr. Chair. Cabinet directed the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement to acquire and renovate a facility in Saskatoon to help address ongoing issues related to individuals with complex needs. The facility will be located in the former SLGA [Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority] building at 1701 Idylwyld Drive North in Saskatoon. This location was chosen as renovations could be completed in the fall of 2023.

 

Given the complexities of purchasing new buildings that include construction delays, potential community engagements, zoning requirements, significant upfit costs, procurement of construction barriers, the proposed facility meets the immediate short-term viability. The former SLGA building was already recently listed for sale as part of the closure of government-owned liquor stores and has since been removed from listing to secure for this program.

 

Building improvements to support the facility will be made within the next few months with an original estimated cost of $2.5 million. If the pilot project is successful, the government expects that a longer term location will be required. Thank you.

 

The Chair: — Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. I’m just wanting to remind members before we get into questioning that we’re dealing with supplementary estimates, so it’ll be a very narrow breadth of questioning, strictly to the topic at hand. So with that I would open the floor to questions, and I look to Mr. Wotherspoon.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Thanks, Mr. Chair. And thank you, Minister and all the officials that are here tonight. We’ll cut straight to it. Just to get some clarity, the minister’s remarks were largely about the property in Saskatoon. I see a note here on the subvote that says the:

 

Additional appropriation is required for the secure shelter projects that were announced for Regina and Saskatoon.

 

Is there a Regina project that you can speak to as well and provide detail on that front?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Just the Saskatoon project is the one in the estimates now.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Okay. So just looking in the estimates itself, it’s just printed on the vote 13. And just looking for some clarity. It’s identified there in italics below on the subvote.

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Yeah, I see that. Yeah.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Both Regina and Saskatoon. I’m just wondering why it was included in the subvote as a detail.

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Well we are looking to locate a facility in Regina, but this estimate is for the Saskatoon facility alone. The other one is still sort of in planning, but it’s not . . . So that’s why there is no estimates, supplementary estimates for it specifically. This estimate of 2.5 million is specifically for Saskatoon.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Okay. So then in Regina, then, there’s an understanding that a secure shelter project is to be moving forward in Regina as well, though. Is that correct?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Yeah. Yeah, no, that’s part of the plan is to have a Regina facility, but it’s not as advanced. We already own the property in Saskatoon, so it’s a lot easier and more to facilitate. So we may have to be back for the estimates on a Regina property.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — What’s sort of the timeline for the Regina project as far as timeline for funds, or what’s the goal to have a safe shelter in place in Regina?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — I mean the whole programming for that is . . . SaskBuilds doesn’t set the programming or do anything like that. So we’re just sort of at the call of the appropriate ministry for what they want and when they want to do it and that sort of thing, and that’s what we’re dealing with with Saskatoon alone because we don’t have that same direction.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — And this is Social Services that you’re working with in this case. Is that right?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — It would be Social Services, yes.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Right. You know, has Social Services made commitments to a secure shelter in Regina as well, or where is that at?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — This estimate, like I say, is only about Saskatoon.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Do you have any idea why it mentions Regina specifically? It says the two that are announced for Regina and Saskatoon.

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — You’d have to ask Social Services.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Okay.

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — They want to have, obviously, more shelters than the one. We want to see how one works, so yeah.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — But they need the . . . You would be the one acting to secure the space and . . .

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — They would come to us for everything else, yes.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — What kind of timeline would that mean then for any sort of a Regina project? I mean this one’s . . . You’re here for funding to move forward the Saskatoon one. What does this mean for timelines for a Regina project?

 

The Chair: — I’m just going to interject here. I think the clarification has been made that this is just for Saskatoon. And I understand the writing here, but I think the minister’s made it clear that it’s just for Saskatoon. So you know, let’s get to the Saskatoon portion. But, Minister, it’s up to you.

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — The Saskatoon project, obviously we’re going to see how that goes and what is possible with Saskatoon and then how we’re able to move that ahead. And so, you know, that’s where it’s at. I mean what we’re trying to deal with in Saskatoon or in the whole province is homelessness and those people that could bring harm to either themselves or somebody else in the public.

 

I mean it’s just sort of a start in dealing with those ones with more complex needs and which has been requested by Mayor Clark in Saskatoon and his council. So it’s a need. The Saskatoon city police have also requested that we tackle this along with them. They’re all contributing and they’re all there giving ideas and looking for ways to see what we all can do. So, yeah.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Right. So government owns this building right now on the Saskatoon project. On the go forward, who will then own that building?

 

[19:00]

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — On the Saskatoon facility, right now SaskBuilds owns the facility and future plans will be made down the road. You know, we’re looking at 18 months or so with the zoning requirements, and so we will deal with the property over this next 18 months. We’ll see how the shelter works.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Thanks for that. And who’s going to be responsible and, I guess, operating the project? And who’s going to be dealing with the maintenance?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — It’s not going to be SaskBuilds. It’ll be Social Services. Pardon me, my bad. It’ll be sort of shared between the department of health and Corrections.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — So how’s that going to be shared? So the operations will be shared between the two? And then the other question is basic maintenance. Who’s going to be responsible for that?

 

Ms. Nichols: — Hi, I’m Sara Nichols. I’m the assistant deputy minister of infrastructure, design, and delivery. SaskBuilds maintains government buildings on behalf of all ministries. And so we would allow the program to be run by the program ministry, and we would provide the ongoing kind of major maintenance. But the program would do the day-to-day as part of their program delivery.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Thanks for that. And if you could detail how the $2.5 million, how that’ll be discharged, some detail of what that’ll pay for.

 

Ms. Nichols: — Hi. Sara Nichols again. So SaskBuilds and Procurement supports capital priorities of ministries across government, and so we work to find a solution to problems that ministries are facing.

 

And so in the case of this one we wanted to move with expediency. We wanted to target being open, really, for the winter season. Obviously I think anyone . . . If you go into a former liquor store, it’s not fit for purpose at that stage, and so work has been deployed rapidly to meet the needs of the program. And so that would be coming from the ministries of Social Services, Health, with some security advice from the Ministry of Corrections.

 

And so our team is working through those requirements and also working to move as quickly as possible. And so the capital funding allows us to put in beds, shower facilities, appropriate to be able to provide the needs of the program. Like all of our major infrastructure projects, we capture the needs and requirements from the ministry, we develop a plan and a budget, and then we help deliver that project for the ministry.

 

In this case we wanted to move very quickly, wanted to look to solutions to be able to fit the needs that were being requested from us in terms of the ministries that were putting it forward.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — And the $2.5 million then, will these dollars get this facility into the state that it would be operational and functional and doors will be able to be opened up?

 

Ms. Nichols: — Yes. We also are listening to the ministries in terms of requirements. This is a pilot. When we went to Saskatoon City Council, we were talking about the emergent need, and that is the current zoning that we have.

 

Some of the things we’ve done, we have modular facilities for a shower. It would allow us to deploy them to an additional site if we needed to. So we’re trying to move very quickly and look at innovative technologies in order to be able to have it, but you know, down the road if a different location was decided, we can actually move that shower because it’s a modular facility.

 

And so again we’re trying to bring solutions on a complex problem. We’re working across multiple ministries on this project.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Thanks for that, and maybe you can just provide me kind of all the partners involved in this and then from a government level, I mean you on the infrastructure side and then it’s Social Services and Corrections. Is there a role as well for the city of Saskatoon or for any other agencies or organizations within this project?

 

Ms. Nichols: — So we continue to work with the ministries, the ministries that are involved in this project. It’s being led by the Ministry of Social Services; with the Ministry of Health; Ministry of Corrections, Policing; and the Ministry of Justice.

 

We provide services, so in terms of the program, that would be led by the other ministries in terms of the requirements of that program. In terms of who are their partners in the consultation, that hasn’t been the role of the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — No, that’s fair, understanding your mandate. Just with respect to some of the infrastructure that you’re putting in place then, I’m interested just in this concept of the modular shower units. And so is that some sort of, like, that’s some sort of trailer or it’s something that can be moved? Or I guess, just what sort of product are we looking at here? And do you have agreement with impacted neighbours on that front, whether that’s a hotel or others as to where those would be located or how that’ll work?

 

Ms. Nichols: — Sara Nichols. The showers I was talking about were really just an example of how we’re trying to move quickly to meet a need from the infrastructure side. They’re in the building. They’re not adjacent conveniently in an SLGA building. There was a loading dock and so it . . . I don’t know that we can slide them into every building, but in that case it was rather efficient.

 

And in terms of consultations, so again we are really a support in helping deliver, and so we’ve been helping because we do provide some support to Social Services and the other ministries on things like the zoning process. It has been led by the Ministry of Social Services and so we’ve been working on supporting them in terms of consultation. Community members within 300 metres of the facility received a letter from the province. We worked through the public council meeting in Saskatoon. But those specific consultations would be better answered by the program ministries.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Sure. No. Appreciate that. My colleague from Saskatoon might have a . . . I think he has a question or two here.

 

Mr. Love: — Yeah, thanks, Mr. Chair. Just another question for the minister here in response to something from question period yesterday. The Minister for Social Services said, and I’ll quote here directly, “This is exactly what our municipal partners have been asking for. This is exactly what the police have been asking for.”

 

Could you just go into more detail about how the specific site selection changes the building that we’re discussing here tonight, how those were decisions brought to you if they were exactly what municipal partners in Saskatoon were asking for? Could you provide more clarity on that?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Well this site, we were working in consultation with both the police and the city of Saskatoon. And more so on we need a place is what that consultation was. And you know, we advised them of, that this building was available to us. It would allow us to get in there very quickly, way quicker than anything else that we could, and winter was coming, is coming. Eventually we will get it. And it was a matter of what we can do right now to get this pilot going in a location that’s relatively accessible for the police and everyone else, I guess, from Social Services.

 

And that building was chosen for that simple reason. It was there, accessible. We already owned it. We could easily get in to retrofit the building, and we didn’t have to go through purchasing. But we did have to go, and that’s where our thing was, was on the zoning. And we spoke with the mayor and his people about the zoning, that we would need that zoning and, you know, they took it to their council.

 

Did they specifically say, this is the spot we want? No, because we’re the ones that own the property.

 

Mr. Love: — So, Minister, is it fair to say from your comments that that was a Government of Saskatchewan decision on where to locate the complex needs shelter?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — We talked to them about it, but they didn’t direct us to where to go. We talked to them about, here’s a location that we have readily available. Does that work for you? And they said, yeah, that works for us.

 

[19:15]

 

So did they agree to it? Yeah, they sure did, you know, but I mean they know we own buildings. And everybody in Saskatoon knows that that one is vacant and it’s in a spot where . . . I mean you’ve got to pick a spot, right. And so we discussed it with, it wasn’t me personally, but it was discussed with both the city, the mayor, and with the police as a suitable spot for them, for the police to be able to handle the situation as well as for the city who of course control the city police.

 

Mr. Love: — So no one’s disputing the need for complex housing, folks with complex needs, especially given the history at the Fairhaven wellness centre and unable to meet the needs of those folks. There’s a lot of need out there.

 

But just for clarity, you said this is a proposal brought to the city of Saskatoon by your government. Were there any other locations, possible locations, considered or proposed to the city of Saskatoon that they could choose from, or was this the only option given to them?

 

Ms. Nichols: — Sara Nichols. This ultimately, the location was a provincial decision and so we looked at the portfolio of buildings that would be suitable under this and we did consult with the city of Saskatoon and then we worked through the planning process. And so we worked with the planning officials, submitted an application, and went to the public meeting. And it was approved 10 to 1, I believe was the vote.

 

And so we are under 18‑month limit emergency shelter provision zoning. A lot of our conversations with the planning department were around the appropriate zoning provisions, whether they would apply. You know, I think if you look at any map, there’s no perfect location for most of what we do and so we do work very collaboratively with municipalities across the province.

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — I’ll just add to that in that it wasn’t sort of take it or leave it. It was like we’ve looked around and we feel this is an appropriate building that can be done. Everybody was of wanting to get it done in the quickest manner possible. And so when we narrowed down buildings and looked at buildings on behalf of the government, but also on behalf of the city, and we didn’t want everybody running around for a building. And it was brought up as, here’s the pluses of this building, do you like that. If they would’ve said no, we would’ve looked further. That would’ve caused a delay. So it was a decision made in consultation with the city.

 

Ultimately yeah, it’s our building so we have that. Somebody’s got to make that final decision and it’s our building. But the city was in total agreement with the vote that they had. And the discussion was about seven hours or whatever at council, and council was very adamant that this was an appropriate building, appropriate location. Yes, we’d love to have some magical spot.

 

I don’t know if you’ve read Mayor Clark’s comments on it but it’s one where it provided that facility at the right time that we could actually get it done before something tragic happens here in the middle of the winter. And this allowed us to get in there and get it done. And the city and officials at the city, and council at the city except for one, agreed that this was the best spot and definitely that an 18‑month approval of the permit was the right thing to do. And we agree.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Thanks for that. And I don’t know this project as well as my colleagues from Saskatoon or your officials that have been involved in it or those in the other ministries. So you’re spending 2.5 million to retrofit or take this building up to standard, to be able to be utilized in this way. It’s zoned for 18 months. Is there expectation that that asset should be able to continue to be utilized well beyond that 18 months then or is this plan truly for that 18‑month period at this time?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — I can tell you this much. It’s a pilot project so we’ve got an 18‑month window to see how this whole concept works. I mean there’s not a lot of places like that but there’s a lot of places . . . And I’m sure you’ll agree that this is a big need for the complex needs. I mean there’s lots of . . . Unfortunately there’s far too many homeless out there that don’t have complex needs, but sometimes there’s a fear of those that do because they’re going through a psychosis at some point or whatever and they become a danger to themselves and/or other people. And that’s what this facility’s for. This isn’t a homeless shelter; this is for ones with complex needs. And so that’s why we’re building the building the way we are so that it suits what everybody needs.

 

Mr. Love: — Thanks, Minister. I think probably our last question. You’re right. This is new territory, I think, for our province. Can you point to any other jurisdictions that you’re looking to as far as best practice, as far as what changes you’ll be making to the building? Is there, you know, a blueprint out there somewhere else that you can point to, say, it’ll look like this?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — It would be more the program people like Policing, Corrections; Health; and Social Services that could better answer that question for sure. I mean we’re involved as far as the building itself goes and, you know, where they’ve scheduled . . . I mean we build health facilities, long-term care centres. That’s our sort of specialty. Don’t know what other jurisdictions are doing. I mean you’d have to ask Policing, Corrections; Health; and Social Services if they have that.

 

Like, this is a pilot project for Saskatchewan. I don’t know if it’s a pilot project for the rest of Canada or other jurisdictions in Canada, but I know other people will be looking at it and following how it goes. I mean if I was in Alberta or Ontario or wherever, that’s what I’d be doing.

 

The Chair: — All right. Seeing no more questions, we will now proceed to the vote. Vote no. 13, SaskBuilds and Procurement — it’s on page 12 — major capital asset acquisitions, subvote (SP07) in the amount of $2,500,000, is that agreed?

 

Some Hon. Members: — Agreed.

 

The Chair: — SaskBuilds and Procurement, vote 13 — $2,500,000. I will now ask a member to move the following resolution:

 

Resolved that there be granted to His Majesty for the 12 months ending March 31st, 2024, the following sums for SaskBuilds and Procurement in the amount of $2,500,000.

 

Mr. Bradshaw. Is that agreed?

 

Some Hon. Members: — Agreed.

 

The Chair: — Carried.

 

General Revenue Fund

Supplementary Estimates — No. 1

SaskBuilds Corporation

Vote 86

 

Subvote (SB01)

 

The Chair: — We will now move on to vote no. 86, SaskBuilds Corporation, subvote (SB01). Minister, please introduce any new officials and make your opening comments.

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I’ll just make some opening comments and we’ll get right to the questions. In October 2021 the government approved a $60 million investment to SaskWater to support the construction of a non-potable water pipeline from Belle Plaine to Regina. The pipeline will service known industrial needs and provide capacity for future growth.

 

Government support was to be provided over two years with 26.3 million in ’23‑24 and 33.7 million in ’24 and ’25. The project is ahead of schedule, and the government is moving up the timelines to release the remaining funds for the projected year. Thank you. I’ll take questions.

 

The Chair: — Very good. Mr. Wotherspoon.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Thanks so much, Mr. Minister. Thanks for the bit of detail on the projects. So this project is ahead of schedule. Can you just share with us if it’s remained within the same scope and if the original budget is being maintained as well?

 

Mr. Hersche: — Daniel Hersche. So our role for this project is really just to fund $60 million of the project. And I mean the remainder of the project’s under SaskWater’s purview for scope and costs over and above that. So I guess that we aren’t committing to any additional dollars, and anything extra would be funded by SaskWater.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Right. So this project’s well ahead of schedule then. You sort of had half the appropriation in the budget this year and then the budget was going to be . . . The project was going to be completed. So the decision’s been made that this project’s ahead of schedule; let’s get it done. So then it’s being financed, like, through debt here at this point, but you’re getting the project completed. It’s the same budget allocation that you’d originally committed to.

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Yes, that’s right. We’ve committed to $60 million.

 

[19:30]

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — And the project itself, just a little bit more detail. Like, who are the customers going to be? It’s an industrial that will serve industrial opportunities, which I know our water’s critical to that. Just, you know, do you have customers already lined up for that water? Or what’s that look like?

 

Mr. Hersche: — So just a few of the projects that this water line will service are a majority of the major announcements in the Regina region, so Cargill, FCL [Federated Co-operatives Ltd.], AGT, Viterra, as well as some other smaller projects. And it’ll also help attract other larger projects to the region. So this is really an economic development and a strategic investment.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Who’s doing the construction of the project?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Honestly on that one you’d have to ask SaskWater.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Okay. And I guess any questions around sort of the contractual relationship to the water then with those various proponents, that would all be questions for SaskWater, right?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — I should ask, have you been out there and seen what’s going on? Have you taken the bus out there? It’s like . . .

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — I actually have seen the earth work. And so that’s the earth-moving work that’s happening just out past the bypass. Is that correct?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — There’s, yeah, all out there. I mean . . .

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Yes.

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Yeah, that’s the . . . seeing the pipeline going in out there.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Yeah, yeah, no I have, yeah.

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Yeah, it’s quite the sight, even the whole area out there, the development in the area. And it’s going to attract a lot of, I would think, new development for that as well.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Yeah, I know. I know for that area right there and in around the GTH [Global Transportation Hub], water is always one of the big questions for anybody that’s looking to locate there. Will this service the entire GTH as well?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — It could service a lot of different facilities all around that area. So I mean it’ll have the capacity to serve a lot of people. That’s what I’m told by SaskWater. To know exactly you’d have to ask them, but it’s a substantial capacity.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Yeah, so that, like I said, would be the question then. So what is the capacity of it and how much of it’s been contracted to date? What percentage of it’s been contracted?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Again you would ask.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Right.

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Yeah.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Yeah, no, that’s . . . Anything else we should know about this project? Any concerns been identified by any of the RMs [rural municipality] or the city or any of the proponents or any of those contracting for the water itself?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — None. It’s going to be a big economic factor for that area, and as far as I know, there’s been none, no concerns, no complaints. People are actually pretty pleased about it.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Would it be water that would be potentially contracted for, like value-add agriculture and irrigation-type, smaller-scale-type projects as well?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — It could be for lots of different projects out there. So that’s one of the nice features about the pipeline is that, you know, it’s a multi-use facility. It’s non-potable so it could be used for, you know, obviously commercial properties or anything along that line.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — And where does it start? Where does it end? How long of a pipeline is it?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Buffalo Pound to north Regina.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Yeah, and if I’m right, a lot of the infrastructure, a lot of that pipe’s in the ground in around Regina already at this point. Is that correct?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Yeah. You’ve seen how close it is to Regina. I’ve been out there myself, you know, in midsummer and it was close to Regina. And so yes, they’ve made great progress on it.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — So what’s the timeline now for it to be completed and for it to be operational?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Really a lot of the questions . . . I mean I’m just generally a big supporter of the project because of what it could do for the economy. But a lot of those questions, SaskWater is getting the people that would have to answer them. They know all the facts, figures, and whatever. You know, our participation is not the building of it, and SaskWater is. But it’s a great project. It’s a great project for the city, a great project for the province.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — And in some of the commercial customers, will the water be required and used sort of the moment that it’s completed? Is the urgency of getting this built out incumbent to some of those important economic projects right now?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — You know, again you’d have to ask SaskWater on that question.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — The project’s ahead of schedule. You’re saying that it’s staying on budget here. So the other choice would be to not supply the additional capital this year, and then that pushes this project’s completion back. Would that have other consequences as well to have not added the additional borrowing and supplying these dollars this year?

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — So there’s lots of construction projects going on all throughout the province. And to have projects, any projects, finishing really ahead of schedule to me is a good thing, and that they’ve moved so well on it. Again you’d have to ask SaskWater if that would create anything. I just like to see the projects move ahead and finish on time or ahead, on time and on budget, and that’s a good-news story.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Thanks. I don’t have any further questions on this vote at this time, and I appreciate the detail here today.

 

The Chair: — All right. Thank you, Mr. Wotherspoon. Thank you, Minister. Seeing no more questions, we will now proceed to the vote. Vote no. 86, SaskBuilds Corporation can be found on page 13. SaskBuilds Corporation, subvote (SB01) in the amount of $30,400,000, is that agreed?

 

Some Hon. Members: — Agreed.

 

The Chair: — Carried. SaskBuilds Corporation, vote 86 — 30,400,000. I will now ask a member to move the following resolution:

 

Resolved that there be granted to His Majesty for the 12 months ending March 31st, 2024, the following sums for SaskBuilds Corporation in the amount of $30,400,000.

 

Mr. Goudy. Is that agreed?

 

Some Hon. Members: — Agreed.

 

The Chair: — Carried. All right, committee members, you have before you a draft of the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies. We require a member to move the following motion:

 

That the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies be adopted and presented to the Assembly.

 

Mr. Goudy. Is that agreed?

 

Some Hon. Members: — Agreed.

 

The Chair: — Carried. All right. Well signing Cheveldayoff takes a long time, so it takes a few minutes. Thanks for bearing with me, but that’s a lot of money as well. You have some very interesting projects that we’ve learned a little bit more about today.

 

Committee members, Minister, and officials, that concludes our business for today. Seeing that we have . . . And I’d like to thank committee members and ask participants to say their thanks yous as well. Mr. Wotherspoon.

 

Mr. Wotherspoon: — Yeah, thanks so much, Mr. Chair and committee members. To the Minister and to all the fine officials that are here with us tonight and that are involved in this work day in, day out, thank you for all that you do and the time here tonight.

 

The Chair: — Mr. Minister.

 

Hon. Mr. Hargrave: — Good. I want to thank all the members of the board for being here tonight and the questions that we got. Great projects that we got, and economic ins and other much-needed projects. We’re pretty pleased with that. And I wanted to thank you, Mr. Chair, thank Hansard, and thank everyone for being here and those that tuned in tonight.

 

The Chair: — All right. Thank you, Mr. Minister, and I’d like to thank members for sticking to the timelines and also to the guidelines regarding supplementary estimates. Much appreciated. I would now ask a member to move a motion of adjournment.

 

Mr. Bradshaw: — I’ll do that.

 

The Chair: — Enthusiastically moved by Mr. Bradshaw. Mr. Bradshaw has moved that we adjourn. All agreed?

 

Some Hon. Members: — Agreed.

 

The Chair: — Carried. This committee stands adjourned to the call of the Chair.

 

[The committee adjourned at 19:42.]

 

 

 

 

 

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