Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, as the Member pointed out before, the money is for the first year of this program, so this is what the money has been expenditured for this year and the subsequent years that are coming up, and the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment has assured me that he would be able to provide a further detail and a briefing to social programs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We are. The government is always looking at transformational projects and ways we can lower the high cost of doing business and living in the Northwest Territories. We continue to do that. I think the federal government has made it a priority of theirs, too. They have made a lot of investment in infrastructure across Canada, and the NWT has our proposals in to get our share of some of that funding. We are looking at a number of different projects that would help offset our greenhouse gas emissions and lower the cost of living. Again, as we go further into the process, I would be glad to keep...

Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.

Yes, Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I pointed out before, we have been doing some modelling. We have got a lot of feedback on our approach to carbon pricing and the effects it is going to have on the people of the Northwest Territories. I would prefer not to get into too much detail right now as to the work we are doing, because we have had discussions with committee. We need to have the discussions with the federal government, and I don't want to pre-empt or jeopardize any discussions that we might have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the capital supplementary will be at the same level, which I believe is $5 million. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Well, I can assure the Member and all Members and the public that the NWT government is going to have a made-in-the-NWT approach to it, because we do want to mitigate the impact it is going to have on the high cost of living and doing business in the Northwest Territories. Also, I can add that the Northern Premiers have had some discussions. They all have some concerns with the federal backstop, as well. They have had their discussions, and they will continue to do so. As we move further into the process, I will continue to update committee and update Members of the House.

No need to, Mr. Chair. I just thank the Member for his comments. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been working on our own carbon price modelling, and as we all know, the federal government has backstopped. They plan on implementing that backstop if the jurisdictions don't come up with their own modelling, so we have come up with some modelling, and we have updated committee on our approach with it. Once we have our discussions with the federal government, then we will be able to share that information.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the extended health benefits base is increased $3 million, and the Metis health benefits is increased by $848,000. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.