Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to ask the Finance Minister some questions. The Minister spoke about freeing up money to match federal investment. Yesterday, the Premier spoke about continuing to pursue, to support our strategic infrastructure corridors. Can we have some clarity on what kind of long-term projects we have for this $150 million? I think that's where the frustration comes from, Mr. Speaker, is that if we wait until the business plan cycle hits us, we have no idea where we're taking this government, and that's really what this conversation about the fiscal policy of this government is about. Where are we headed and when is the investment coming?
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member may have no idea of where he is going, but I know exactly where I am going. I am going to try and put this government, with the assistance of this Assembly, in a position where we're able to make further investments into our mandate in the remaining years of our Assembly.
As to specific projects as to where this money is going, we have a number of corridor projects that we have identified as some priorities of this government, but those are not all. The money that we're working with here is not just for capital, but it's also for O and M, to put us in a better position to continue, and maybe even enhance the services that we already provide, which are quite large. We provide a lot of services, and people around the Northwest Territories, I think, appreciate that, and we will make them more aware of that.
So we will continue to go the direction that we're going, with the assistance of this Assembly. As far as specific projects and where the money is going, we still have to go through that process, as I responded to Member for Frame Lake, through the budgeting process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I know exactly where I'm going, where my colleagues are going, and that's advancing the mandate priorities. Our concern, and my concern, is that we are not doing that as effectively as we can. Economic diversification, making business capital available to entrepreneurs, these are things that take cost. Correcting the serious problems with addictions, with housing, these are things that take cost. Ultimately we invest today to lower the cost in the future.
That's exactly the debate we're having right now, Mr. Speaker. My question is, are we taking our leadership from Ottawa on infrastructure investment? I hear again and again, we're waiting to match dollars from Ottawa. Are we driving this process or are we waiting for guidance from Ottawa? Because Ottawa is willing to spend, Mr. Speaker. So if the Minister can be clear on that, where the priorities are coming from?
That was very beautiful, and the Member likes to throw this kind of stuff out there, but he knows as well as I do, and anybody that's been a part of this Assembly for a while knows that we work in partnership with Ottawa. We try to put ourselves in the position where we're partners with them and not just take handouts from Ottawa. No, they don't dictate to us what projects we put on the ground, but we work with them. That's good leadership, good government. We work with them as an Assembly, and when I say Assembly, I mean all 19 of us because a lot of the decisions we make here through our budgeting process are decisions that are made through this Assembly.
So, Mr. Speaker, we do work with Ottawa, we are partners with them, and as a small jurisdiction and, having been to a number of FPTs with our larger counterparts, we have to go down there and put ourselves in a position where we're partnering with them. They're making investments in the Northwest Territories; we're putting our share of resources towards those investments, so we don't just sit here and wait with open hands for them to give us some money. We are partners with them and continue to do so.
