Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the I have the background here. Let me turn this to Mr. Courtoreille. He may have the most recent detail on what what's done other the current year, or in the last construction season. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So because of the fact that the road was able to well, again, the end date hasn't changed, but in terms of the timing of when some of the portions of it were complete, my understanding is that as a result of that, payments had to be made, and it was underestimated how quickly some stages of that project would go. When some of them go more quickly, the expenses incurred, the debt is then booked to the books, and that's what in doing that final reconciling at the time of doing year end, it was noticed that, in fact, they had exceeded the debt limit as appropriated...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it certainly is disheartening to think that after all that work, the hides would be sold at a deflated price. They are in high demand. I've certainly heard that is a barrier to some of our artisans as well.

At present, Mr. Speaker, in conjunction with my colleague from ECE, there is a review taking place, this fiscal into next, around all of the arts funding programs, certainly wanting to ensure that we are understanding where our money is going and understanding if there are gaps that we should be filling. Of course, alongside that there is the much bigger...

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to improving Indigenous representation in the public service, and ensuring Indigenous employees are genuinely included, celebrated, and given opportunities to succeed. We are committed to creating a public service that is welcoming, culturally competent, and free of discrimination; one that serves in a way that respects and includes the Indigenous peoples and communities of this territory.

Today, I am pleased to announce that the Department of Finance is launching the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework and Action...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents: The GNWT's Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Action Plan; The GNWT's Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework; and, The Interim Public Accounts for the GNWT for the year ended March 31st, 2021. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's a big question, and I'm trying to be brief, but it's an important one and I'm happy to have a chance to speak to it very, very briefly. But there needs to be a balance between being flexible and responsive and providing certainty to the business community. The business community needs to know what they're dealing with when they're making a bid. At the same time, things do change. COVID has showed us that things do change.

So it's certainly been my view in this role that we can have certainty and have clear processes, transparent processes, but also...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are two different things I'm being asked to commit to.

With respect to bringing things under one shop, that was one of the items that was recommended in the review. It is something I certainly have spoken about the importance of. But as to how that will unfold, I am still going to abide by the process that we are in the middle of, which includes a defined process of engagement with Indigenous governments. So I'm not going to make any formal commitments other than to refer back to things I've already said in that regard.

And as to the philosophy...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this again is timely to have this conversation in the House. It's timely to have these questions. ECE and ITI, of course, have released the arts strategy not long ago and are indeed, as I mentioned, undertaking a review of all of the programs and the funding associated to it. So in the course of that, we can certainly commit to working together to look at whether or not there is funding that's available that's perhaps not being utilized, whether there are programs that could be better advertised to those who need it, or if in fact, there's a gap and that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm also well aware of the problem. It's certainly not new. It's been raised to our offices as well.

At present, Mr. Speaker, there are arts council grants through the Department of ECE that can be certainly directed to all artisans in the territory. The Department of ITI provides supports for hide camps, tanning camps through  generally through seed funding and funding that can go to the communities. So I anticipate that there could be more  that the Member's looking for something more, but there are some creative ways that we can support those  these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if I'm not mistaken, that infographic grew out of a series of questions here in the House maybe this time last year. I've also had positive responses to it. If we can improve it, I'm committed to doing that. So let me start by saying perhaps I'll check in with my colleague to see what gaps she sees, and we can continue to improve the report card that we have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.