Caroline Wawzonek

Madam Speaker, I wish to present to the House that Bill 71, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 20232024, be read for the first time. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm going to take a bit from my colleague down the way here and the Minister of Infrastructure. The Department of Infrastructure really does have the lead for a large portion of the capital projects that go through, and that department, in response to concerns like this, is actually developing a dashboard. It will be a public dashboard and will be providing exactly the kind of synopsis that the Member's describing. And I can certainly commit to keep him updated as to the progress on that dashboard, or I'm sure my colleague will. Thank you, Madam Speaker...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I think this question actually came up, or a version of it, during Committee of the Whole. And the Members were assured there is an asset management plan, and there is a very thorough process by which we are keeping track of all of the assets of the government and the capital needs and any, you know, needs for maintenance, etcetera, through all the departments, particularly the Department of Infrastructure.

Now with respect to where the question actually got to, which is whether or not we'll be publishing a 20year capital or the 20year capital needs...

Madam Speaker, as the Minister responsible for the public service I can say without question that the employees are the GNWT's most important resource. An engaged workforce that is committed to its work is critical to the delivery of quality programs and services to residents across the territory. This is why the Government of the Northwest Territories, like many other public and private sector employers in Canada, wants to ensure that public servants are engaged and satisfied at work.

This past year, the GNWT completed the first Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Survey since 2016. This...

Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Boot Lake, that Bill 71, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 20232024, be read for the second time.

This bill authorizes the Government of the Northwest Territories to make appropriations for infrastructure expenditures for the 20232024 fiscal year. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So, again, Madam Speaker, that unusual consensus government process is that Members who would be on these sort of, quote unquote, "other side of the House" do get what are called substantiation sheets. That does give a fair bit of detail about upcoming projects. And it does include the budgetary detail that, again, right now most governments would consider to be not part of good procurement practice to be sharing publicly. So that's why those don't go out. But the point of the dashboard a part of the dashboard, the purpose of the dashboard I was just describing, is...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, Members of the House do receive the fiveyear plan. Again, consensus government's a little bit different. This isn't necessarily how it would happen in a lot of governments elsewhere in Canada. But we do have that opportunity here to do things a bit differently. So Members do receive that. The public doesn't get a copy of the fiveyear plan, and the real and simple reason for that is the concern around ensuring fairness in the procurement process. If a total budget is put forward on a project, then there is a live concern amongst procurement that, in fact...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, as MLAs, one of the platforms that we use to raise support for causes is here in the Chamber. Younger generations, meanwhile, are often very effective on platforms like TikTok and YouTube to get their voices out to those who will listen. One of my young constituents is one of those youths using social media platforms very effectively, and I want her to know that people are listening.

She had recently posted to Facebook a video sharing the reality of what too many young people are still facing every day at school. The video showed, for example, what...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I conducted the budget dialogues this past spring and summer. When I did so, I presented to any member of the public who was interested the state of our funding, funds, the state of our fiscal situation, including operating surpluses, operating and capital expenses. I've put those informations before the public and received feedback on how people would like to see us moving forward in this government, whether it's through trying to increase revenues, whether it's through trying to decrease expenses or, frankly, a little bit of both. So I do want to...

Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Bill 70, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operation Expenditures), No. 2, 20222023, be read for the third time. Madam Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Madam Speaker.