Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I think this is actually a fairly important series of accounts to look at or numbers to look at in the main estimates. This is money that is paid on debt. So this is the money that we pay to the banks. This has no asset in the Northwest Territories, no program or service that is being serviced. It's just money that we're paying on the debt.

And well, yes, I am happy that there has been a small reduction in interest rates that had not you know, in the last couple of years, we had to come back when rates were not dropping as quickly as what was at times being...

Thank you, Madam Chair. That was funding that was appropriated for the purpose of the Hay River harbour restoration. Thank you.

Madam Chair, unfortunately not. If anything, it's actually the opposite. It winds up that to get those roads in, even for the shorter season, is also costing more. And then to maintain them through those seasons, through the season with the more volatile weather and greater number of storms, again is actually also costing more. And, in fact, I don't have numbers for actuals for this particular fiscal yet, but it is significantly more. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And, Madam Chair, just first for any members of public who may be just want the explanation, just to be clear, this is medical travel for employees. It's an employee benefit, just as other private sector employers might provide benefits of some nature or another, this is the benefit that is provided to public servants. And we are let me just say first there has been a modest increase that's been proposed in the department for this line item from the main estimates of 20232024. So in the actual base budget, that has gone up by a couple of million.

There was a fairly...

Yes, please, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I mean, I can certainly consider it, but it's probably not going to happen.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, there's there are quite a number of capital funding federal pots that exist right now that we are part of. The Disaster Mitigation Adaption Fund is one. Investing in Canada Infrastructure Project, people I think hear us sometimes say ICIP. That's a big one. And that, I think, may be the one that the Member was has the numbers there for 570. I think it's actually closer to 580, but that's Canada's portion. And that is right now funding quite a large number of projects, including projects in the Sahtu region, as well as the National Trade Corridors Fund...

Thank you, Madam Chair. First, let me just correct myself that Health and Social Services does also have an evaluation separate and apart, and ECE is starting to look at that, which really is part of the vision of GRI, is to create that so that as programs have gone through a significant formal evaluation they can then begin to do that on a more regular basis rather than having to do the largescale the first time. So that's some good news.

We're looking at formal fuller scale evaluations of two per each department. I do have a list of what is slated in terms of those priority areas by...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So now we're onto the heritage fund. Mr. Speaker, the heritage fund, in it right now, I believe, has around $40 million. It's a fund that is, yes, meant well, it's meant to be where we put a portion of the resource revenues that we do get here in the Northwest Territories. It was never meant to be something that we would zero out or hand out dollars at a time or cheques at a time. There are jurisdictions in this country, for example Alberta, where they have at times of great wealth, due to their resource situation, essentially handed out money to residents, and there...