Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it was my pleasure to be the seconder on this motion. I'm going to try to be relatively brief, but I do think it's important, Mr. Speaker, that the public hears some of the perspectives on this, including around the idea of freedom of expression/freedom of speech, in this context.

Mr. Speaker, freedom of expression obviously is extremely important, particularly political expression. This is an essential feature of democracy in my view and it's enshrined in the Charter of Rights, which is something that inspires much of my professional life. Being a part of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I can, at least, share what the revised timelines are anticipated to be at this time. So right now, there's -- the charting tool is expected to be underway for procurement in this current fiscal year with implementation expected then the year after. As we've said, there are a number of components here that are making it a bit difficult to say exactly the specific dates of one or the other, as they are interrelated. But laboratory information system upgrade, that work is underway. It was begun, and it is proceeding we're expecting this fiscal year, 2025-2026...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as part of the contract, it is the company's responsibility to ship the units to Colville Lake. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So it is formally in -- we are currently in year 3 of 4. There are some stages that certainly will continue on. So where we are expecting this year is to be in a -- to have the formal contract to a contractor completed and a solution in full design over the coming year. That will be implemented in the -- in sort of late or mid-2026, and then there's -- thereafter in the project, there's training of our own staff to ensure that they can utilize this new system but that is different from the construction, if you will, of the IT system. So for the construction of the IT...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on this one, we -- the project timeline certainly has changed over a bit of time. So previously, when this was approved for a three-year project starting in 2023-2024, it was approved as $1.715 million, and that has become clear, as the project's got underway working with the chief information officer, that this would be insufficient so there's been now an additional amount added to the budget, and it's been approved over four years which has extended the project further, and that is leading to some of the funding that was previously allocated to 2024-2025...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This certainly is an unfortunate situation of having a further significant overage but on an asset that is of crucial importance to the community and to young people in the region who attend this school obviously, so it is a project that's several years old now and it was, unfortunately, one that was subject to some delays starting, if I'm not mistaken, prior to COVID and that immediately starts to lead us into a situation where project budgets did face some significant challenges, that things changed quite a bit quite substantially in terms of supplies, supply chains...

Yes, please.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize Sheila Laity. She is a registered nurse and nurse practitioner, and resident of Yellowknife South, and also a long-term advocate for her profession. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This refers to section 11 of the federal Species at Risk Act, and this funding is going to support entering into the implementation of a conservation agreement with any government in Canada, organization, or benefit to support a species of risk. This funding will help ensure that we as the GNWT are fulfilling obligations under a two-year conservation agreement, and the project proposed here is titled the Conservation of Boreal Caribou in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Happy to do so, Mr. Chair. On my left, Bill MacKay, deputy minister of finance. And on my right, Mandi Bolstad, the deputy secretary to the financial management board.