Caroline Wawzonek

Sorry, Mr. Chair, I'm having some trouble hearing. I think it is actually maybe I think Mr. Courtoreille heard it so let me pass it over to him, please.

Pretty quiet whispers, Mr. Speaker. I don't think I've heard anyone whispering those words. Sales tax at this point would obviously have a pretty significant cost increase to individuals and residents. We are already finding that the cost of living anecdotally people say all the time the cost of living is very high. And the recent years and a number of challenges we faced have only made those challenges worse for everyone. So there's no whispers of a sales tax at this point, Mr. Speaker. We're going to have to see what we can do with the government to make sure that we're best utilizing our...

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is based at this moment on the agreement as it stands with Canada. I can't speak to what discussions or whether discussions are ongoing with education, culture and employment but just that at this point this is based on the agreement as it is. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, accounts receivable, March of last year, which would be the last time that it comes out with an actual, was at around $131 million. And of that, there is a significant amount that is due to the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority. There is ongoing work happening within the authority to make sure that they are billing back timely. So every time someone from outside of territory with a different health care card is in the territory, that does create, for example, an accounts receivable balance. And as I said, I know they are alive to it...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my left, Bill MacKay is the deputy minister of the Department of Finance. And on my right, Terence Courtoreille is the deputy secretary to the Financial Management Board.

Mr. Speaker, secure, affordable, and sustainable that is the vision for energy in the Northwest Territories outlined in the 2030 Energy Strategy, a vision for an energy system that is less dependent on fossil fuels and that contributes to the economic, social, and environmental wellbeing of the Northwest Territories and its residents.

Since the energy strategy was released in 2018, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the entire territory have made positive strides in realizing that vision. The progress made on the energy strategy is detailed in the 20222023 Energy Initiatives...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm happy to be presenting this afternoon Tabled Document 1320(1): Interim Estimates, (Operations Expenditures) , April 1st to June 30th, 2024, for the Government of the Northwest Territories. The interim estimates will allow public services to continue to be provided until the main estimates for the fiscal year have been fully debated and approved by the Legislative Assembly.

The estimates propose a total appropriation of $782 million for operations between April 1st and June 30th, 2024, and $1.3 billion in borrowing for the GNWT for the 20242025 fiscal year.

T...

Well, Mr. Speaker, obviously setting the priorities of the Assembly is work that we've all collectively just done, and the next step is to ensure that there's a mandate to help achieve those priorities. Obviously, that's work that happens by all Members of Cabinet, including myself, and I believe will be work that involves back and forth to Members of the Assembly including the Member who's asking the question. So as that process is underway, I'm hopeful and confident that it can continue to be a dialogue and one that will see reflection of everyone that's here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's not lost on anyone that the challenges in the last few years have put a lot of strain on households, on businesses, and there's little appetite or capacity arguably even for tax increases. But beyond that, Mr. Speaker, tax revenues are a pretty small slice of the revenues that we receive. The Government of Canada transfers in various forms; in particular TFF. That's our major source of revenue, up to 80 percent. So taxes are not right now what we're looking at. We're right now trying to figure out everywhere and every other option available to us. That...

Mr. Speaker, if he would like longer periods of notice in advance of documents, I guess we'll have to find a longer period of time as much as is available. It wasn't much time that we had to turn around coming up with a fiscal strategy in order to have it to Members and then to the public in advance of the priority setting, which seemed like a responsible way of going about things. But I will certainly endeavour to make sure that there's a longer period of time that the Member has these documents before they're made public. Thank you.