Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, Madam Chair, I appreciate the Member's comments. The department did work tremendous hours over the last many days. Other departments did as well, as well as at the same time dealing with their COVID planning. The 5 percent is not meant to go on top of grants, contributions, et cetera; at least, not initially, it was not. There were different individuals working on this, and in the bit of the rush and the fact that we wanted to get this before committee here today, for Lands, Legislative Assembly, ITI, and the Health and Social Services Authority, there is an additional 5 percent on their contracts amount. This results in approximately $3.5 million, $2 million of which, actually, is going to go to the health authority. Ultimately, it was determined that, really, what might have been seen at one point as an error might now actually turn out to be something positive in that it's giving extra money to an area that is likely to need it. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I in no way want to take away from the work that the staff did over the weekend. If these departments, the 5 percent contingency was applied, this is something that can still be squared up when we get the main estimates when we sit next in May-June. That's where this can be squared up? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. There was no intention to permanently add to the base budget for contracts and grants and contributions in these areas. We will certainly make sure to have another look at that when the time comes in May-June. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Are there any further questions under general comments? Seeing no further general comments, we will review the supplementary estimates by department. The committee has agreed to begin the review with summary of interim estimates by department, and we will start with the Legislative Assembly. Does the committee agree to forego general comments on each department?
Agreed.
All right. We will go into department, Legislative Assembly. Questions? Schedule 1, operations expenditures, department, Legislative Assembly, appropriation authority required, $8,712,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will move on to department, Education, Culture and Employment. Any questions? Seeing no questions, summary of interim estimates, department, Education, Culture and Employment, appropriation authority required, $126,592,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. We will continue on. The next department is Environment and Natural Resources. Appropriation authority required, $53,818,000. Does committee agree? Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to ask a single question. My understanding is that the grants and contributions for all departments have been funded yearly. Can I confirm that, for Environment and Natural Resources, the full amount for the Community Harvesters Assistance Program is being funded? The annual amount is being funded in this interim budget?
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have that particular item broken down, but if I am not mistaken, that is a grant or contribution, and therefore, it would have been funded as 100 percent. If I am in error, Madam Chair, I will get back to the committee immediately. Sorry, Madam Chair. That is in the grants and contributions. Yes, sorry, it is here. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that we went through the effort to fully fund all the grants and contributions, because I think, given the nature of the coronavirus, we will see a strain put on a number of those. I know that applies to numerous departments, but I just wanted to speak to this one specifically. Our Chief Public Health Officer has said that a good way to social distance is to get people out on the land. That is what CHAP funding is for, so I was just hoping that I could get a commitment with the Minister of Finance to have a conversation with ENR about getting this funding out of door sooner rather than later.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We were just looking at what the total budget is. We will make sure that it is prioritized, and I am confident that I can work with the Minister for ENR. If there is anything that we need to do to do that, I agree; we will be following all of the advice of the Chief Public Health Officer, including this. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Are there any further comments? Seeing no further comments, we will go back to department, Environment and Natural Resources, appropriation authority required, $53,818,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Next department, Executive and Indigenous Affairs, appropriation authority required, $7,873,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Next department, Department of Finance, appropriation authority required, $110,265,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Department, Health and Social Services, appropriation authority required, $268,147,000. Does committee agree? Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to confirm. I guess I received my final "yes" with respect to the funding for the dialysis expansion for Hay River. Is that included in item number 6? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, Madam Chair. It's under contributions, Madam Chair, and yes, I can confirm that it is included here in this appropriation.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. That's all.
Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that we have provided a 25 percent increase to compensation and benefits, I believe, for Health and Social Services, to allow some of our nurses to -- there will likely be overtime. Can I just get a sense from the Minister, if the coronavirus increases and Health and Social Services goes beyond the budgeted amount, does that become a cash flow problem? I want to make sure that they have access to resources to deal with this and how would that work if they spend this money. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. All departments have a 5 percent contingency, as well, which I realize isn't a large cushion on top of 25, but there is some additional cushion. I guess, what I want to say, number one, is that no one should be worrying about their salary at this point in time. If the Department of Finance has to use tools within its disposal, it will do that, so that nobody should be worrying about their salary right now. We will sort out what we need to sort out to make sure that everyone gets paid to do the work they need to do to keep people safe. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Are there any further questions? If there are no further questions, we will go back to the department, Health and Social Services, appropriation authority required, $268,147,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Next department, Industry, Tourism and Investment, appropriation authority required, $36,615,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Department of Infrastructure, appropriation authority required, $140,005,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Moving on to Department of Justice, appropriation authority required, $54,324,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Moving on to Department of Lands, appropriation authority required, $9,591,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Moving on to Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, appropriation authority required, $56,257,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
All right. Now, we'll move on to operations expenditures, appropriation total, $872,199,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Under schedule 2, establishing borrowing limits for the Government of the Northwest Territories, appropriation authority required, $940,471,000. Does committee agree?
