Katrina Nokleby

I don't believe I said that I have done everything I can do. I will say, though, that I am doing the best that I can to my ability. I have several areas of business and industry where I need to advocate for everyone. I am only one person, and I do acknowledge that there are things that we could be doing better. I believe I already answered the question as to why we went with loans instead of grants with the BDIC. However, I do commit to coming back to the Member with a more fulsome answer on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Businesses across the Northwest Territories have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but perhaps none more so than our tourism sector. The tourism sector was one of the first hit by the pandemic and will likely be amongst the last to recover from its effects. Northwest Territories tourism is reliant on national and international travel. However, for the time being, our borders must remain closed to protect the health of our residents and our small and remote communities. We recognize that this is happening at a cost to business owners and entrepreneurs in the Northwest...

The maximum available for any individual business under regular SEED programming in a given year is $25,000 and up to $30,000 with a Ministerial waiver. Applicants can apply for any type of support. The limit is on the total quantum. The one exception is for strategic initiatives, with up to $75,000 allowed. This was introduced as a pilot program two years ago, and the intention was to support larger projects that could have a real impact in terms of investments in local employment and communities. We had previously targeted two strategic investments per region at $75,000 apiece. This year, we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we revamp our guidelines for our SEED funding, it's now sort of open to all, so that distinction of COVID-related or not is not really relevant. There have been 40 applications for SEED to date, requesting approximately $410,000. Thirty applications have been approved, equalling approximately $220,000 in funding. Two applications have been denied as they did not meet SEED policy criteria. Two applications were withdrawn. Six applications are awaiting review by the regional panels. Applications for the 2020-2021 SEED started being reviewed by the regions on May 13...

What the question was yesterday was: would I make the terms of reference and the membership public? It was not whether I would share it with the Members on the other side of the room. No, this will not be a secret committee. The reason for my response yesterday was that I do not want to tie the hands of anyone prior to even having the first conversation with them. I am open to sharing that and posting that publicly. However, I will have that discussion with the council, and we will move forward as the council sees fit.

Yes. I will commit to that personally and notifying the Member, and the other relevant Members, every time there is a delay in the resupply or any changes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I can commit that everything is on track with MTS for this upcoming season. We are looking for new ways to provide reliable community resupply and ensure that we are gaining our maximum value. We will have the four double-hulled barges delivered to Tuktoyaktuk. August 12th or 15th, it will show up in Tuktoyaktuk. We were the first to be approved under the Oceans Protection Plan on that. This one is a 75/25 percent funding. The seven other projects that we have in under that plan will all be at 100 percent funding. We are looking at the changes. We are reviewing at...

Public engagement is a critical part of the way our government does business. It ensures that the GNWT is visible, accessible, and answerable to the people it serves. In this case, while we engaged with industry and regulatory entities regarding the airport work in Fort Smith to ensure that the runway would continue to be safe and meet federal regulations and maintain a consistent level of service, we did not ensure that the community of Fort Smith understood the project's purpose and benefits before we completed the work. We understand that airport maintenance and improvements are especially...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since receiving the letter from Fort Smith leadership in June of 2019, the former Minister of the Department of Infrastructure and I have both provided multiple responses that explained why the decision was made to proceed with the project.

Transport Canada sets the standards by which airports are designed and operated. Airport owners and operators, such as the GNWT, apply those standards and construct and operate airports to meet current and future operational and regulatory needs. The GNWT reviews airport infrastructure on a regular basis to identify current and future...

We definitely commit to having an open and transparent and collaborative government. I would like to actually have the conversation, though, first, with the membership as well as the two co-chairs of the council so that we can determine if that is the best movement for it. Personally, right now, I think that should be fine, but I do want to respect their privacy and their thoughts and whether or not they thought there needed to be some element of confidentiality around the council.