Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Madam Chair. So this was concluded as part of negotiation with the territorial medical association and resulted in some small retroactive amount, but also there's recruitment bonuses and there's an amount that is resulting from changes to the locum contract rates, and I'm certainly happy to provide some further breakdown of each of those. Well, $1.2 million to the contracts for physicians, standard physician contract rate, as well as $3.4 million just over in recruitment initiatives, and $3.1 million for locums, and then just over $700,000 is for retroactive amounts, again related...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the fiscal responsibility policy is really only one tool among many, not the least of which is the process that we are currently engaged in here, of examining our budgets publicly as part of this Assembly. Mr. Speaker, I would note that our current rate of budget growth is the smallest that it's been in a very long time, possibly in over a decade. So certainly there are things that are working within the Department of Finance right now to manage that debt growth. But notwithstanding that, the review was done to try to make it even better. There's a number...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe, Madam Chair, that it was part of an unspent balance from the previous fiscal year, and so this is the remaining amount that was unspent now carried forward and fully satisfies the amount that was available. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I am here to present Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2023 2024. These supplementary estimates propose an increase of $45.196 million comprised of the following items:

$2.297 million in previously approved projects as a result of transferring the 20232024 capital budgets from the Departments of Lands and Environment and Natural Resources to the newly formed Department of Environment and Climate Change; and,

An increase of $4.886 million to adjust infrastructure project cash flows to realign appropriations with the anticipated project...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, there are supplementary reserves are on the operations side. There aren't supplementary reserves for infrastructure sups. Thank you.

Madam Chair, I don't have that level of detail for the supplementary appropriation, but I can commit to providing that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation, or BDIC, is excited about business development and digital transformation opportunities in the territory. As we shift to a digital economy where consumers are purchasing more goods and more services online, looking for ecommerce convenience and expecting vendors to personalize offerings, there is a greater need to support businesses to establish or increase their online presence. I am pleased to announce the introduction of the Accelerate Digital Adoption Projects for Tomorrow Fund...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, this is a $200 million asset with some of the budgets dating back to 2013, so probably an asset that is worth far more than that today. It's an asset that was built through a P3, which gave us the ability to not pay that full cost value of that asset, and yet to be able to have a point of presence for the internet across and up the entire value. And today, Madam Chair, earlier there was raised with me the fact that the auditor general putting out a report about telecommunications. Again, I only had a very brief opportunity to look at it, but one of the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I gather there has been some work done internally within the government as to their satisfaction with ISSS. That was done on the operations side. But I can endeavour to see what information may be available. Thank you.

Yes, Madam Chair.