Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if I recall correctly, the first time this came up last spring we had made efforts to ensure that meetings were going to be posted in a public fashion, and I do believe that it was actually last session in December that I had informed the Assembly again of the intention to make these summaries public. Putting up some notes on the website is not normally the kind of thing around which I would be doing formal news releases or otherwise but happy to have the information out here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, it is in the role as the Minister of Finance, along with the Minister of Infrastructure, that we are the two of us are collectively on the steering committee which is as part of the memorandum of understanding. The memorandum of understanding is an opportunity to really approach the design of the project differently. So we're at still a very early stage. We're at the stage of kind of conceptualizing what this could look like, what the project might be. And going through the MOU process is really an exciting opportunity to engage Indigenous governments at the front...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely, I could not agree more wholeheartedly. The Taltson Hydro facility, and obviously it's one of the big three infrastructure projects that the entire Legislative Assembly has prioritized for this, for our 19th Assembly. It is part of the 2030 Energy Strategy. It is an opportunity for equity participation by Indigenous governments. This project has quite a number of potential of reasons of why it can be a dramatic change to the economic landscape, and I most certainly agree with the statement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, again, I certainly will commit to reaching out again. And I think that the steering committee also is directing that we reach out collectively and try to ensure that memorandum of understanding is, to its fullest, utilized in the design of the project.

Mr. Speaker, with respect to consultation, absolutely; when there is a project to consult on, if the Salt River First Nation hasn't come back to the MOU process, which again certainly hoping that they do, if that's their choice not to then, absolutely, any and all Indigenous governments on whose...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, there is a joint research project that was done, the Northern Mineral Sector Investment Study. It was a joint project between Nunavut, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, it was tabled. It is document 53119(2 and I'd be thrilled if folks would look at it. It's a it does have a lot to say about how to increase resource exploration in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I am more than happy to address this. We've done, actually in some ways, actually, this is exactly the kind of thing I was speaking to. We do want to be influencing where we are in five to ten years, and that does mean we need to be taking action today for Indigenous recruitment and retention. That is why we've moved forward on the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework. That was released earlier or I guess a few months ago now, and we've had an opportunity to speak to committee about that and have public review of that alongside committee...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, so the budget, of course, isn't drawn up on a per capita basis. It's not per 33 communities divided up by 33. There are occasions, for example with MACA's budget, where of course Members may want to ask about the specific dollars that go into a community. But for most departments, a lot of what happens is territorywide. So, for example, education or health is delivering services that may be regional. They may be delivering services that are, you know, done in a headquarters. There are services that are done planning communications that are done that...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, there's different types of grants that we get from the Government of Canada. I mean, it's obviously a pretty excellent question here for budget session and being day 2 of having just received our the budget speech. So I'm trying desperately to find my summary of revenues, Madam Speaker. I have it in front of me now.

So the biggest grant we get from Canada, the territorial formula financing. That is really the backbone of what forms our budget. But there's others in there that I think perhaps don't always get the same attention and may be less well...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, that's an interesting question that I'll have to take away. It may well be that the vital statistics is tracking some information or receiving information more broadly about the impacts of mental health on mental health pre and postpandemic. It may be of some assistance or of some interest that interestingly GNWT employees, as I said we are tracking the total numbers and we're actually using less sick days, less leave without pay days than in prior fiscal years. Prepandemic, we were at 9.1 days in the 20182019 but current fiscal right now, coming to the...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I can't speak to the Member's personal or specific circumstances but there's a continual renewal of the kinds of programs and policies that are available. The Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework brings it under one umbrella and puts targets on departments and puts an onus on senior management as part of their performance plans that they have to deliver on this. So we're taking those things seriously because it doesn't need dollars; it needs people to buy in and to understand the importance. These people to actually at the leadership level and...