Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So this increase is fairly modest, just over $300,000 here. And it's, again, related only to the collective agreement. However, Mr. Chair, with respect to our capital plan that we are expecting to be delivering over the next year, we do have the James Creek maintenance camp rehabilitation project that is coming out of Fort McPherson region, and that one is expected to move forward over the next coming year. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So we already do provide certainly some information with respect to the amount of change or expected change that you would see in the capital planning process. The macroeconomic policy that we are looking to bring forward and to put -- apply a lens to will also include a consideration since there's obviously -- again, I shouldn't say obviously. Nothing's -- there's always open questions. But not having access to energy efficiency does, indeed, create risk of increased costs over time. So that would be part of that lens, and that is something that is coming through and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This has been raised now on a couple of occasions. There's not an active plan underway at the moment for any all-season roads beyond the Whati all-season roads that came in -- or the Tlicho all-season road that came into use just a few years ago. So, again, at this moment in time, no. But, again, I know it's been raised. What I would say the next major road in that area is probably with respect to the planning around the SGP, the Slave Geologic Province area, and I've heard suggestions that maybe there'd be a spur off of that, but this is all very much really just an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an area of quite a lot of interest to me as well, and I was very pleased that the department was willing to undertake this area when -- beginning of this government. It is not only the Department of Infrastructure, Mr. Speaker. It involves municipal and community affairs, housing, as well as infrastructure. I can say that we certainly have come together as multiple departments. There is a working group in place, and what the next step is is to really put in place some recommendations of what it will look like to bring all the different pieces together to have a...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, there is, indeed, now some money there that is available for this stretch of highway. There's -- tender packages are being prepared to be ready in time to be out for this construction season and we -- there's about $18 million in total for this entire stretch of highway between now and 2027 and 2028. So it's over a course of a number of years that this -- that really from the border through on the entire stretch of the highway. So as far as breaking it down beyond that, I -- again, I would perhaps want to just ensure that we are doing so in a way that, you...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, so some work that we do certainly does already include using things like a GANT chart or other strategic tool. This was really meant to be one that would look, again, at that process from a different lens. So, you know, you can say, for example, if you use that lens and you identify a process that's not efficient, this is the committee that would be then led or tasked with fixing the problem. So even a small example would be using eApprove for approving monthly variance reports that come through and obviously -- I shouldn't say obviously. But Department of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, yes, I can assure the Member, the House, that there is a lot of interest in this area. It is not only under the biomass energy line item which is a program, again, administered by Arctic Energy Alliance and which was fully subscribed.

Mr. Chair, there is also work that happens within our asset management division, and I know we'll get there at another point in time, but it is relevant to this question. There's that crossover here where this division does also support communities in their efforts. So we do have other funding that comes under the greenhouse gas...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, Mr. Speaker, without being able to source some additional funding, it's difficult to come up at this point in time with a simple answer or simple solution. We certainly do look forward to continuing to work closely with Arctic Energy Alliance. They're a critical partner in terms of delivering programs in this space.

Mr. Speaker, I'd already actually spoken to the Member with respect to setting up my own meeting to make sure that we can do what we can to work directly with Arctic Energy Alliance, identify where the shortcomings are, identify if there's particular...

Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to highlight the significant strides we have made in advocating for better telecommunications services in the Northwest Territories. Our work with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC, has led to transformative changes that will benefit all residents of the Northwest Territories.

On January 16th, 2025, the CRTC announced a groundbreaking decision to introduce a universal subsidy for internet services in the North. This decision marks a pivotal moment in our journey towards digital equity, ensuring that every household in the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my left, Jeffrey Nichols, senior legislative advisor at the Department of Infrastructure. And on my right, Sue McKinney as the legislative counsel from the Department of Justice. Thank you.