Katrina Nokleby

It has been a very busy time over the last while. I did want to confirm that I have received confirmation from my department that there are regional funding allocations for the SEED program, and we can provide that for you. I do believe there is information available on the website. I can't really tell you exactly why that particular piece of information hasn't been updated, other than the fact that updating a ministerial directive, which is an overarching theme for my department, was not my priority at the time. My priority was to get the funding out to people. I will commit to the Member...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Amortization is quite an accounting term, so I think I'll pass this off to Mr. Brennan and remind him to speak up when he answers. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The contract services include things like leases and maintenance for the long-term care facility, Highway No. 8 maintenance, the seasoned project officer transfer that was already referred to. The Wek'eezhii land use planning office, the Norman Wells Health Centre maintenance. Highway No. 8 maintenance, we've seen some decreases there. We've seen a decrease in the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway operations and maintenance as well as a decrease in marine maintenance. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think I'll pass this over to Mr. Brennan to answer. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. ITI SEED program was announced on May 11, 2020, five and a half weeks into the new fiscal year. The SEED program began taking applications for the 2020-2021 year with an increased budget of $4 million. A new guideline was announced at this time, and all the SEED programs are available for funding. However, priority was given to supporting business development opportunities that are forward looking, supporting local employment, and have a plan that reflects our new economic realities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Sachs Harbour, the drainage improvements are actually under the capital budget, so they will be addressed there. As I mentioned in the House yesterday, we do have the excavator coming this summer to do the work, but I believe that's all under our capital budget. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I commit to getting back to the Member with that answer. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. There would be travel around to do different types of maintenance, I would imagine, between communities if we have people in regional centres that need to go out to something specific in a smaller community. However, I think that I would like to pass this to Dr. Dragon to just explain more fulsomely why we are travelling so much in the Department of Infrastructure. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Within the department we are always looking to better optimise our services. I know that the opening of the Arctic Ocean, the Arctic passage is a relatively new thing. There are concerns about shipping through the Arctic, as well. It's definitely something that I know we'll be looking at going forward, and we note the Member's comments. As well, with my other hat on, it's not that department, but ITI is exploring LNG and such within the Beaufort-Delta. My hope is, one day, we will not be sending fuel up the Mackenzie to the Beaufort-Delta. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I commit to the Member to have that conversation with each of my regional offices, to re-emphasize the direction I have given to the deputy minister to maximize and utilize northern and Indigenous businesses more. As well, we will have that procurement review and input from you on that so that we can make these changes and make sure we are doing better. Thank you, Madam Chair.