Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Premier because I believe that the kind of response required by the GNWT to support small business will take a Cabinet collaboration. Mr. Speaker, can I have the Premier's commitment that she will instruct her Cabinet Ministers to bring forward innovative suggestions on how more funding and support can be made available to NWT businesses as a result of COVID-19? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely. We are already taking some movement in that way. It is one of the primary reasons that Minister Nokleby actually proposed the business advisory council. The important thing, though, Mr. Speaker, is that we have to make sure that our compensations for businesses complement the federal government's and not overlap, and that is a fine dance that we have been doing all the time. Constantly, in my first Ministers' conferences, I keep talking about flexibility. The federal government seems to say, "This is for this. This is for that." We have businesses keep falling through the cracks all the time, so I have been asking for flexibility within that. However, absolutely, we are already on that.
I completely agree with the Premier that we do have to demand flexibility from the federal government, but in that, I believe that we also need to make up for that here in the Northwest Territories because our businesses simply can't afford to wait until the federal government is able to kind of work with our entire country to then give our northern businesses what they need to survive. Does the Premier see us in the Northwest Territories being able to provide an influx of cash, as a government, to businesses within the Northwest Territories, ahead of waiting for the federal government?
The Government of the Northwest Territories has already provided some economic relief. The relief packages that we have put out there are available on our GNWT website. If not, let me know, and I will get back to you on that. We are trying to keep up as well as possible. The whole idea, though, is we need a coordinated approach. Like I said before, if we keep running to the federal government -- which happened at the beginning. First, it was tourism. I am trying to remember the order. First, it was tourism. Then it was Chamber of Mines, and it kept going. It's confusing for the federal government. That is why we are talking about having a plan that will actually come forward and say, "These are all of our needs, both social and economic." It's a better presentation to the federal government, and it makes us look more professional as the GNWT.
As a government, we have incurred many expenses because of COVID-19, and we have incurred these expenses hoping that the federal government will down the road reimburse us for all of these. I am wondering: does the territorial government kind of have a limit of how much COVID debt they are willing to take on or they can take on, and is small business and money to small business included in that plan? Thank you.
Absolutely. We are not waiting for the federal government to help businesses and residents of the Northwest Territories. However, we are advocating all the time. I have to give credit to the federal government for what they have done. It's not fair to stand here and blame the federal government. They are trying their hardest. They have given to us so far $23.4 million for us to use for COVID-19, mostly of course for health and social services but for other expenses because they gave us the flexibility in that. They gave us $8.7 million for airlines. They are promising more. They gave us $35 million for businesses recently. You know, I mean they are trying the best they can. The question, though, is: are we tracking it? Absolutely, we are tracking. The Department of Finance is responsible for tracking. All finance directors in every department has a special COVID-19 code that they use to implement any of the expenses we are doing. We are tracking, and we are trying to be as responsible as possible.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
