Rylund Johnson

Tim Mercer and Mike Reddy are the witnesses. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we head into what is likely to be a very large, global recession, I believe it is time for the Northwest Territories to double down in diversifying its economy and building a knowledge economy. I think one of the best ways we can do this is to continue forward in our path to create a polytechnic university; a polytechnic university that will meet our increasing skilled labour demands, which will allow industries in the North to build skills and experience to eventually compete for contracts, not just here in the NWT but across Canada and the world. Mr. Speaker, I...

Yes, Madam Chair. I would like to bring in Tim Mercer, clerk of the Legislative Assembly, and Mike Reddy, director of legislation division.

No further questions, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I understand there is bridge rehabilitation and then if we need a brand-new bridge that would be in capital. I get that this $80 million covers road resurfacing, but if we go to the capital budget, there are a number of existing kind of infrastructure projects related to highways. I was hoping the Minister or her deputy minister could just help me flesh out why some road maintenance ends up in operations and others end up in capital. Ultimately, I'm looking to get a sense of how much we spend maintaining our highways. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am just looking at the line item "highway operations," $80 million. Can I get a sense what that money is for? Is that all of our road maintenance costs, or does that also show up in the capital budget? If I could get a sense of which part of road maintenance is in this budget versus capital? Thank you, Madam Chair.

I am glad to hear that they are working together. I am hoping that I won't be hearing that in three years and this issue won't be resolved. Another key issue in this matter is that, before the land can legally be transferred, the surveying costs for land of this size is significant. Can the Department of Lands update me on any efforts to find funding to conduct that surveying, and who is ultimately responsible that cost?

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 73(2) and have Bill 6, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are gaps. I think one of the gaps is we have that open policy, and that work was started by the previous Minister of transparency and engagement. That work has largely not been actualized. I'm unsure if the responsibility of that policy lies with ISSS. Can the Premier make sure that there is a unit where someone is clearly in charge of implementing the goals in the open government policy which was developed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I believe, in the future, I will direct my questions to the Minister of Finance. I do think that the centralization of ISSS will bring some of this work, but ultimately, they need to reach in the departments. Each Minister needs to be responsible for this. I think COVID has shown us that more and more government data needs to be public, and more and more services need to be online. One of the things that should come out of this: every single government service should be available online eventually. Is the Minister willing to put that in mandate letters to department that they work to bring...