Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you may be gathering from the past tense, this program requiring the $75,000 deposit has now been discontinued. I understand that, in the past, this was one method by which the department was able to help ensure that applicants were, in fact, serious and had the capacity, the financial capacity, to see the process through. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recruiting more healthcare professionals is a mandate item for this government. There is already a health recruitment unit well under way, which is a partnership between Health and Social Services and the Department of Finance. In short, yes, I certainly can commit on the part of Finance, on the part of human resources, to taking some steps, to developing some ideas, and to having them ready. Aside from that, this will be something that becomes a multi-departmental response. I am confident that, as I said, human resources will do its part, and I am confident that I will be able to work with my...

[Microphone turned off] …down, Madam Chair.

---Laughter

The simple fact is: as I said earlier, having only been really up and running since the accounts were set up at the end of March, there hasn't even been an application yet, but I think, at the very least, as I've said already, whether it's a small-R internal review or whether it's a question of putting out some guidelines to help understand the interpretation of the criteria, which are admittedly short, I also have it in front of me, I think we'll have to do that to make sure that we are actually, again, capturing and targeting good projects, good ideas, so that we can actually demonstrate...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am hesitating only because I don't want to get mired in reviews on a program that hasn't even really barely rolled out. I agree with some of the comments the Member has made around ensuring that there is enough flexibility in this program to really capture true innovation, and so that we are really encouraging a sea change in terms of how we deal and how we can really use this funding to advance green opportunities and green mining. Whether it's maybe a small-scale, internal review that happens, that much, I think, is probably safe to say. Thank you.

Yes. I do happen to have those numbers now right in front of me. For the fiscal year of 2020-2021, we are projecting $25 million in carbon tax revenues, which, based on that projection and assuming no drawdowns, at the end of this fiscal year, the large emitter individual accounts would be estimated to be just over $2 million.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There hasn't been a formal engagement process since the time that the regime was proposed back in the 18th Assembly. However, the Standing Committee on Government Operations has been consulted both at the time of the 18th Assembly, as well as here earlier in 2020, as I think the MLA did earlier reference. They were given a copy in advance of the large emitter grant policy back in March, and similarly, the industry itself, the large emitters themselves who would be subject to this, were also given an opportunity for some feedback on this, which came after the committee's...

I don't have the details about some of the different proposals. What I do have is some engagement that has come, frankly, from my other hat, from the diamond mines who are looking for opportunities to be innovative. Whether that is through renewable diesel project or others, I think I take the point that there are some ideas out there that are going to be innovative where, right now, if we're demanding proof of a 5-percent reduction as part of the application process, that may be a difficult target to be able to provide that advance proof of, if what you're trying to do is something innovative...

Fortunately, this is a policy-based item, so there certainly is opportunity to refine it as it has now rolled out and before any applications come in. Again, it's fairly early in its stages. The Member mentions the need for innovation, the desire for innovation. I have actually heard the same from industry, that they also want the opportunity to innovate, that they want the opportunity to access these funds, to be real leaders in this area. To the extent that that can be considered, I think that is a great opportunity. Again, the policy itself is not complex. It's not lengthy. It may very...

The accounts for this program were only set up as of March 31, 2020, which obviously falls and coincides quite a bit with what is happening with COVID-19. As of this point, with a few months, no, there have not been any applications yet to date.