Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the interests of having only 59 minutes, I'll try to be a bit brief. It's a huge question. A few highlights, really, and I want to acknowledge at the outset that there is always more that can be done. This is a territory that is 50 percent Indigenous, and many of the communities are 100 percent Indigenous. I first want to acknowledge that there is always more that can be done.

A couple of things: there are regional economic development plans that fall under the responsibility of ITI, and if we can be successful in delivering those in partnership with the Indigenous...

Madam Chair, at the risk of starting to repeat myself here, again, housing is going to be complicated. It's not that there can't be a way to have that conversation here, but the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation's budget doesn't flow into the capital plan the way that would make it easier, frankly, to have this conversation. I'm sure we can find solutions to that. Similarly, with respect to the funding and municipalities, there is O and M funding for municipalities, which is what has the largest sort of gap in terms of the study that was done to where it's at now and no doubt why this...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am not going to try and go through it line by line. There is obviously quite a lot in the Member's comments, but just to touch on a couple of items if I might, Madam Chair. Importantly, with respect to housing, the housing infrastructure budget isn't in this budget at all. The housing infrastructure budget is in the operations and maintenance budget in the form of a transfer that they get through the Department of Finance, so this just simply is not the occasion when anyone is going to be able to review the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation's operations or...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here to present the Government of the Northwest Territories' Capital Estimates 2021-2022.

These capital estimates total $451.2 million to support and continue infrastructure investment in our communities. Major highlights of the plan include:

$188.6 million for highways, winter roads, bridges, and culverts. This includes funding of $61.3 million to continue the Tlicho All-Season Road project, $23.5 million for Great Bear River Bridge, and a total of $18.5 million to advance the environmental and planning work for the Mackenzie Valley and Slave Geologic Province all...

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to hear the comments around what makes it so positive to have a program like this. It is positive. There are labour shortages. There are gaps, and our businesses and business community here benefit from the strength and the diversity that we have by drawing people to the North to contribute to our economy, so it is a good thing. Mr. Speaker, we are no longer accepting these deposits. We are getting in line with what's happening in the rest of Canada and making ourselves a more attractive jurisdiction.

When there is a business here from someone who is a new resident...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are always some expenses that get incurred when programs are administered through the Government of the Northwest Territories. I am sure there is no exception to this one, but unless I look back over the last 10 years and am able to actually reconcile expenses versus program benefits, I am not going to be in a position. I certainly will do my best to go back to the department to see if we can provide that kind of reconciliation for the Member. Thank you.

If it's kept, it reverts to the government, but its purpose was never to shore up or provide any kind of background insurance to private industry or private businesses. If an individual is dealing with someone who happens to be in this program, the good-faith deposit would not be used, as I say, to engage in whatever the private business relationships would be.

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