Thank you. Is there any further general comments? Okay, seeing no further general comments.
Does the committee agree to proceed to the detail contained in the tabled documents? Committee? Agreed?
Agreed.
Committee, we will begin on page 3 with the Legislative Assembly. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Legislative Assembly, operations expenditures, Office of the Clerk, not previously authorized, $20,000. Are there any questions? Seeing no further questions.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Legislative Assembly, operations expenditures, Office of the Clerk, not previously authorized, $20,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Legislative Assembly, operations expenditures, total Legislative Assembly not previously authorized, $20,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Committee, we will now turn to page 4 for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures, education, not previously authorized, $4,138,000. Are there any questions? I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife North. No, sorry, yes, Yellowknife North, and I'm going to come back over here. I seen her hand go up first. Sorry about that, I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm wondering whether the Minister can explain why the $1.869 million increase to the school funding framework. I'm hoping that perhaps it's related to increased attendance in schools and therefore increased transfers according to the school funding formula, but maybe the Minister can explain. Thank you very much.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is, indeed, relating to the school funding framework requirements and -- so, yes, there's an increase in this case -- yes, I'm definitely not going to be the right Minister to necessarily get into explaining exactly how that calculation gets made. But there is -- the good news is that yes, indeed, it does tend to be impacted by determination of attendance or a determinance of the number of students that are attending, and it gets adjusted in the year because our fiscal year and their school year don't necessarily quite align. But in this case, we did -- yes -- sorry, an enrolment. I keep saying attendance. It's enrolment, not attendance, but with the enrolment numbers up now, we are able to adjust through the year. It's actually a good example of why a supp does come through, because of the timing of it. But yes, thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's certainly promising, and I would just like to perhaps follow up afterwards with the Minister of education to better understand higher enrolment numbers and what this means for the territory, but I'll leave that here for now. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Asked and answered so I'll cede my time.
Okay, thank you. Any further general comments from Members? Seeing no further questions.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures, education, not previously authorized, $4,138,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures, labour development and standards, not previously authorized, $338,000. Are there any questions? Seeing no further questions.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures, labour development and standards, not previously authorized, $338,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures, language and culture, not previously authorized, $272,000. Are there any questions? Seeing no further questions.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures, language and culture, not previously authorized, $272,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures, total department not previously authorized, $4,748,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Turning to page 5 for the Department of Environment and Climate Change.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Environment and Climate Change, operations expenditures, environmental management monitoring and climate change, not previously authorized, $776,000. Are there any questions? Seeing no further questions.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Environment and Climate Change, operations expenditures, environment and management monitoring and climate change, not previously authorized, $776,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Environment and Climate Change, operations expenditures, policy and strategic planning, not previously authorized, negative $83,000. Are there any questions? Seeing no further questions.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Environment and Climate Change, operations expenditures, policy and strategic planning, not previously authorized, negative $83,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Environment and Climate Change, operations expenditures, wildfire and forest management, not previously authorized, $1,502,000. Are there any questions? Seeing no further questions.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Environment and Climate Change, operations expenditures, wildfire and forest management, not previously authorized, $1,502,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Environment and Climate Change, operations expenditures, total department not previously authorized, $2,195,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Please turn to page 6 for Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, operations expenditures, directorate, not previously authorized, $1,279,000. Are there any questions? Seeing no further questions.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, operations expenditures, directorate, not previously authorized, $1,279,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, operations expenditures, total department not previously authorized, $1,279,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Please turn to page 7 for Department of Finance.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2024-2025, Department of Finance, operations expenditures, directorate, not previously authorized, $11,950,000. Are there any questions? Okay, I'm going to go to Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, so I'm not going to say we shouldn't be spending money to lower the cost of living for Northerners, but it seems like this is kind of an endless cycle we're trapped in with the rate of -- the high cost of power in the Northwest Territories. So my first question is how much -- what's the total amount of money we provide for subsidies to consumers for their utility costs? Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So in this supplementary appropriation is reflecting something that came out just at the end of last year in response to the GRA that we were required to file by the PUB where we've proposed to put in $48 million over four years, so $12 million for this year, and that's what this supp amount is.
In addition to that, Mr. Chair, we also provide the territorial power support program which subsidizes all of the communities that are thermal communities, so communities that are running on diesel generators, so throughout the Beaufort Delta communities, Mackenzie Delta communities, Sahtu, Deh Cho. They are brought down to the Yellowknife rate, and that sub-territorial rate subsidy comes at around $7.1 million.
Mr. Chair, there's also, of course -- we certainly would support the costs of power and utilities within public housing units. I don't have that number handy.
I think that's it, Mr. Chair. I don't necessarily have a mathematical line-up of all those details, but I do think that's it. If I'm missing something, I'll follow up in due course. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. My -- I have $80 million in my head on, like, a general kind of subsidy. I don't know if it wraps up everything in that, but that's my recollection from perhaps the main estimates. But does that number sound accurate at all? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Sorry, so, Mr. Chair, I heard subsidies directed to the consumer, so that's the numbers I was sort of running through. There's also, of course, supports that the government provides to keep the cost of energy infrastructure reduced. So, for example, the Inuvik wind project, wind and battery project, and the Taltson upgrade project collectively were also -- came in at around $80 million and by subsidizing -- so, yes, we're subsidizing in that case the infrastructure by doing so, otherwise that would then have to be paid by the ratepayers according to the public utilities principles. So by avoiding having that cost passed down, I suppose that's also indirectly subsidizing consumers.
Similarly, there was the cost of diesel over the last couple of years, which I believe was at around $30 million. That should be in the mains. It may be, indeed, what was recently seen that is part of sort of every nine to ten years or so when there's a low water cycle, we do find that the territorial government does tend to step in and provide supports. Again, otherwise that higher cost of burning diesel does get passed down to the ratepayers on the user pay principle. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So how much -- is there a calculation for -- this $12 million, like how much we're saving taxpayers from the general -- or consumers -- sorry, consumers, not taxpayers because we're not saving taxpayers. We're spending their money. But how -- and I'm okay with that if we're getting to a public good and, in this case, we're taking the pain off the utility bills. So how much are we saving the average household with this? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair -- and it is -- it's ratepayers. I often get it wrong, but -- so the ratepayers who often are the same taxpayers -- and I mentioned this yesterday in saying that you are taking tax dollars then essentially turning it back over so that people are keeping their costs lower.
The $12 million that we are proposing will be -- would go towards the cost of power. Now, the final amount that it's going to be depends upon what the public utilities board decides to do. They're the ones that actually set the rates, and the requirement for a GRA was issued somewhat earlier than what the Northwest Territories Power Corporation was anticipating. So that process had to happen fairly quickly. We -- they went in -- NTPC went in proposing a rate increase to energy costs at 24.8 percent. Energy costs are only one part of your utilities bill. There's a fixed cost portion as well. So it's not the entirety of the utility bill that would be proposed to go up, only the portion that is the energy portion. The 24.8 percent, also there is a reduction there because there was already a rate increase back in July. That would come off of that proposal and -- but this -- with another $12 million brings down -- brings from 24.8 down to 15 but, again, it actually comes down a little further when we consider that there was a 7 percent rate increase already in July.
That's a very long answer. But, yes, it does bring it down several percentages, percentage points from that 24.8. Again, I can't give a final number in terms of the dollar because I won't necessarily know until the PUB comes out with their decision. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. So has the rate application been modified with the advent of this $12 million? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Yes, Mr. Chair. And I say that only in that I haven't actually -- I don't know if it's been updated. I know the documents were all filed publicly but if it hasn't been, it will. Thank you.
