We are still going through the process right now, but as Members in this House are aware, the Prime Minister has made a commitment to our Premier about recognizing the uniqueness of the North. I have assurances from the Minister of the Environment that they recognize the unique situation of the North. The Member is absolutely correct. We want to put a product together that is made in the North. I think we've given some numbers to the committee; if we use the federal backstop, then what residents would have to pay would be a lot higher than if we implement our own made-in-the-North approach to it. Our plan is to use our made-in-the-North approach to it because we live up here, right. We know what we are paying up here, and so we are the ones who should be deciding what's best for the Northwest Territories, not somebody who is thousands of kilometres away. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a written question for the Minister of Justice. Can the Minister of Justice please advise this House on the following?
The number of land transfers per year by community in the Northwest Territories over the past 10 years for which data is available; and
The dollar value of transferred lands per year by community in the Northwest Territories over the past 10 years for which data is available.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Written questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister Responsible for the Housing Corporation. Her report on reducing core housing need, called "Towards Level Ground: Addressing Persistent Core Need in the Northwest Territories," includes an action plan with spending of $20 million in the next fiscal year, yet the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation operations and maintenance budget is decreasing this year. What is the source of the $20 million required by the plan, and further:
How did the Minister decide to allocate spending among the 15 programs listed in the plan;
How do the commitments in the plan relate to each of the specific areas of core need;
How will the action plan spending be allocated among regions; and
On what basis did the Minister decide to budget $600,000 to address affordability problems as the element of core need most prevalent in Yellowknife?
Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Yellowknife Airport Five-Year Business Plan 2018-2019 to 2022-2023." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Waste Reduction and Recovery Program 2016-2017 Annual Report." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I wish to table the following document entitled "Pharmacare: A Plan for Everyone" by the Canadian Labour Congress. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
I now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the committee would like to consider Tabled Document 63-18(3), Main Estimates 2018-2019, with the Department of Finance as the department under consideration. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will consider the document after a brief recess.
---SHORT RECESS
I will now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 6318(3), Main Estimates 20182019, for the Department of Finance, which begins at page 135. I will turn to the Minister responsible for any opening comments. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to present the 20182019 Main Estimates for the Department of Finance. These estimates total $234 million, which includes the GNWT operating contribution of $76.4 million to the NWT Housing Corporation. Overall, the department’s estimates propose a decrease of $1.2 million or 0.5 per cent over the 20172018 Main Estimates.
Setting aside the changes in the contribution to the NWT Housing Corporation, which you will review with Minister Cochrane, highlights of Finance’s proposed 20182019 Main Estimates include:
$600,000 for a new training program that will provide residents an opportunity to gain the skills and experience to compete for positions within the GNWT;
$400,000 to enhance capacity to deal with labour relations issues and ensure that the GNWT is wellpositioned in an increasingly complex environment;
$1.1 million in forced growth related to the Territorial Power Subsidy Program and automatic increases for bonds issued related to the Deh Cho Bridge; and
$5.2 million in sunsets, primarily related to completion of the project to upgrade SAM and HRIS.
Finally, I would also like to point out that the 20182019 Main Estimates outline the borrowing plan for the GNWT. This plan proposes to establish a total borrowing limit for the GNWT of $812 million, which is comprised of the following:
shortterm debt, $366 million
longterm debt, $445 million
capital leases, $837,000
The limits proposed in the borrowing plan will be included in the Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 20182019. The GNWT borrowing is part of our overall debt, which also includes Northwest Territories Power Corporation and Northwest Territories Housing Corporation debt.
That concludes my opening remarks, Mr. Chair. I look forward to answering questions from Members. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Do you wish to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. SergeantatArms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber.
While the witnesses are coming in, I would like to take a moment to thank the interpreters who have been with us this week: Mary Rose Sundberg, David Blake, and Ruth Carroll. We are in this House to get information out to the public, and we could not do it without their assistance, so I would like to thank the interpreters.
Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses for the record?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to my far right, I have Ms. Tara Hunter, who is the Deputy Secretary of Human Resources. To my immediate right, I have Mr. David Stewart, deputy minister of Finance and deputy secretary of the Financial Management Board. I got the name right. To my left, I have Mr. Sandy Kalgutkar, who is the deputy secretary to the Financial Management Board. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Committee was previously discussing that we will forgo opening comments. Does committee still agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will move to the detail.
The departmental total is found on page 139, but we will defer this until after consideration of the activity detail. Two pages later, you will find the borrowing plan, but we will also defer that until after consideration of the detail. There are five activities. The first one is directorate, and it begins on page 143. Does committee have comments or questions about the activity "directorate"? If committee does, please indicate which page you are making comments about. Ms. Green.
Mr. Chair, I have a process question. I have some questions that relate to page 140. Will those be canvassed when you go back to page 139?
That is correct. When we discuss the departmental total, we can discuss the revenue summary, as well. Do you have questions about this section? Nothing further from Ms. Green. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 143 under "activity description," the bottom paragraph speaks to shared corporate services having a responsibility for requests under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. How does shared corporate services function in this capacity, and how does it differ from what work is done in the Department of Justice? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Stewart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Each department tends to have an access to information coordinator to deal with their own individual requests that come in for information from their department. The function within Justice sets the overall policy frame and coordinates across government, but each department has their own staff, who are usually related to records, that help answer those questions as they come in and get the records and those sorts of things. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This department does not do any coordinating activities apart from what is contained under its own mandate; is that accurate? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.
Yes, thank you. That is correct.
Thank you. Mr. Testart. Nothing further from Mr. Testart. Any other comments or questions from committee? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am just not sure where the Heritage Fund is found in the main estimates. Can someone tell me whether this is the appropriate place or which activity to ask about the Heritage Fund? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Mr. O'Reilly, the Heritage Fund is listed under “management board secretariat.” That is a future activity that we are going to be discussing.
Seeing no further comments or questions from committee, I will call this activity. Directorate, operations expenditure summary, $85,090,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. The next activity is human resources. It begins at page 147. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In the Minister's opening comments, he spoke to a $400,000 appropriation to enhance capacity to deal with labour relations issues and ensure that the GNWT is wellpositioned in an increasingly complex environment. Can the Minister elaborate on what that appropriation is going to accomplish? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Stewart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the proposed investment of $400,000 is related to labour relations capacity, and specifically related to collective bargaining and compensation analysis. So we currently have one position that provides all of the research and analytical support for bargaining and compensation. We are starting to deal with a more complex environment in terms of some of the provincial governments and how they approach the compensation policy, those sorts of things.
We are moving towards selfgovernment, and, as Indigenous governments draw down jurisdiction or enter into service delivery, there are going to be issues related to that. We are also in the role of providing advice and assistance to some of our partners and our boards and agencies, including the Power Corporation, the Marine Transportation Services, LHOs, and others. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, to one of the items the witness just provided on that list, marine transportation services, as we all know, a revolving fund was established for the purposes of supporting marine transportation services. I am wondering if it's appropriate to use that fund to support labour relations, as it relates to MTS. Thank you.
