Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the figure in 2016-17 of $22 million was because of a carryover in that year, and then the current year is $15,750; it goes up every two years. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The positions that we have, the current nine positions, they already have gone through the job classification process, and they are in our organizational chart. I will commit to actually reviewing them at the end of this fiscal year again to ensure that they can still maintain as unfunded versus moving them into a funded position.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When we are developing the next year's budget, we can take a look at the consumer affairs; however, I do have to point out that over three years we've had less than two dozen cases that we've had to deal with. So unless our numbers pick up dramatically I can't see that there would be an increase at this point. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is both. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In response to the comments that were made by the Members of the Legislative Assembly, I want to talk a little bit about some of them. The Auditor General's report came at an opportune time, actually, because of just accepting the new portfolio and a new deputy minister, it gave us the time to really look at the difficulties that the department was having and gear us towards the new programs and supports that we can actually help people in the communities. It also identified the need to work with Indigenous and Northern Affairs closer.

At no time have I heard any talk and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, if they are looking at an arena, then they do have to use that from their operation maintenance funding. We do have a small funding for youth centres. It is $500,000 a year that we provide, and that is specifically for youth centres. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If the Government of the Northwest Territories decides that it is better fitted within the Executive, I would not fight that. However, in saying that, I am the strongest advocate to actually keep it within the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, especially since I am the Minister and such a strong advocate and previous user of this program. I think that, in all honesty, it is best protected where it is at this point. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Unfunded positions are treated the same way as funded positions in that we look at the job duties that are needed for the position. We then do a job description that we submit to human resources for a job evaluation, and they do a pay grade.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We will do a review again, but currently, the only communities that can actually provide ground ambulance supports are those communities that have the infrastructure in place to be able to initiate the call and to be able to respond to a call. As pointed out before, since the New Deal in 2007, communities themselves make their own capital plans, and so within that, they decide if they want to do something such as building a fire department or an ambulance service or any of these services within their communities, or if they would rather use other services. At this point...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We'll take that into consultation. We'll take that under advisement. Thank you, Mr. Chair.