Thank you, Madam Chair. This is onetime finding to solve the problem for now. Madam Chair, I'm not going to pretend that the challenges of high fuel costs and rates are necessarily going away today, but there is another application in that is that is working its way through and that may help to provide some relief going forward. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. I think the real relief here is for NTPC to get off diesel and this is part of a bigger discussion, I guess. But this same thing happened in 2014 and there had to be huge money put into NTPC for rate stabilization at that point. So this just continues to happen again and again and again. And it's because I don't know, I've just NTPC should be focusing on doing itself out of a job and building, you know, energy selfsufficiency for communities and for households, and that's not what they're doing. They're trying to build big projects and maintain systems that are just completely outdated. What are we doing what is NTPC doing to try to get us out of this cycle of having to continually do rate stabilization fund payments from this government? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, it is challenging to be able to provide electricity to a very small number of ratepayers scattered across a very wide geographic region. Many, if not the vast majority, of which of those communities are not connected one to the other, let alone any of us, to any larger grid. So there certainly is we've heard announced today the Inuvik Wind Project is one project that is moving forward, that is looking for an alternative, to increase an alternative to diesel. And certainly to the extent that there might be some additional at some point we're going to hopefully get to a place with the Taltson hydro system and have that come forward. That would certainly provide the alternative to the Snare rather than having to burn diesel in what is otherwise supposed to be a hydro system. So there certainly are projects in the works. But there's, quite frankly I think, Madam Chair, a lot of work that needs to happen on every front looking for alternatives in every community but then the redundancy for projects, trying to link communities into these different systems, you know, trying to increase the number of corporate consumers and industrial consumers which really would drive rates down for the residential consumers, any one of a number of solutions, Madam Chair, this is this is a problem that is a large one. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Yeah, okay, thanks. I think part of the issue here, too, is as Regular MLAs we just really don't have enough information and oversight on NTPC. You know, we don't get capital budgets from them. We don't get O and M budgets. All of that part of that is dealt with through the public utilities board but we have a board that is deputy ministers now for too long, and I go back to Hansard from May the 28th, and I'm quoting the Finance Minister:
Madam Chair, an options paper is currently under development by Executive and Indigenous Affairs that proposes to amend composition of the NWT Power Corporation board of directors. This will include an examination of the implications of appointing a board of independent professionals. This options paper will be provided to standing committee by the May/June 2023 session. Madam Chair, we still don't have this discussion paper. Can the Minister tell us what is going on? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I can say that there should be an options paper available in some I mean, I don't yeah, I'm calling it an options paper. There will be something available to committee by tomorrow, which is indeed the deadline that was set. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks. Well, we can quibble over deadlines, but the Minister's words were by the May/June 2023 sitting. We've got, what, three days left, so I would appreciate getting it with enough time to actually look at it and raise any issues that need to be followed up on hopefully in the House. So I appreciate that we may get this tomorrow. But I don't think this is going to solve the rates stabilization fund problem which seems to be ongoing and structural with NTPC. And, you know, I worry that the next Assembly's going to be faced with the same issue again and again and again until we come up with a real energy plan, and I haven't seen it so far. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Did you have further questions, Member for Frame Lake?
No, thank you very much.
Any further questions under this section? Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Sorry, can I just get the numbers again on what the power corp applied to be the rate of diesel on the rate application and what the price of diesel is and I believe it's like a dollar and a dollar 50, and those numbers are they have their own kind of prices because they're exempt from carbon tax and some other things; can I just get those numbers? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So the price of fuel that was in the rate is $1. It is now market price, of course much higher at $1.50, which is roughly a 40 percent increase. And power generation for communities is exempt from the carbon tax application. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.
No further questions. Thank you.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 20232024, Department of Finance, operations expenditures, directorate, not previously authorized, $17,834,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 20232024, Department of Finance, operations expenditures, total department, not previously authorized, $17,834,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
We can now turn to page 9. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 20232024, Department of Health and Social Services, operations expenditures, administrative and support services, not previously authorized, $4,101,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates, (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 20232024, Department of Health and Social Services, operations expenditures, health and social programs, not previously authorized, $3,187,000. Does committee agree? Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. So one of the line items here is to provide funding for obstetrical services at Stanton Territorial Hospital, $762,000. Can someone just explain to me what period of time this covers and what this funding is going to be used for? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. This is for the current fiscal year 20232024, and it is intended to help support the funding of an additional five positions as well as some additional actually 6.25 positions, if you will, is how it's termed, Madam Chair. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Okay, thanks. And when we had the period, I think it was last year where the obstetrics unit was closed, has anyone actually calculated how much that cost us in terms of medical travel and perhaps associated costs? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't know that I have that here right now. I can certainly make an inquiry as to whether or not. But I yes, I think there's I think we probably have an estimate. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Madam Chair, that has actually been in fact, calculated. Ask and you shall receive. $1.1 million approximately in terms of the transportation and accommodations to accommodate the need for those who had to travel for birth. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Well, I'm glad we came to the same conclusion. That was the figure that I had as well so glad the Minister was able to find that.
So this money here, is that going to prevent this from happening again? Is that what the basically that's what the objective is? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the last four years have had nothing but unexpected emergencies so I'm a bit hesitant to make that promise. That said, that is exactly why we are going to try and hire more individuals, so they don't wind up in this situation as they were at that time back a year or so ago where the disproportionate number of vacancy rates led to the need to reduce services.
Avoiding a need to reduce services is, I know, a priority and so there's been a lot of money, as you would have seen, coming through both in terms the main estimates and supplementary estimates to support our health system and specifically to support human resources within the health system. That said, of course, Madam Chair, there's a lot of need across the entire health services envelope right now. So I know I just add the note of caution that while adding six fulltime positions more than that is significant, there's a lot of other needs throughout the system right now. So, again, priorities to avoid this the reduction in services but coming with the notation that there's a lot more work to be done. So thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Yeah, no, thanks for those comments. But I just am mindful of it cost us $1.2 or $1.1 million to close it and maybe to help keep it open, it's significantly less than that by hiring some more staff. So I think this one's kind of a nobrainer. And yeah, I guess we got to try to prevent this from happening again. And if means spending some more money and actually saving money in the long run, I think we need to do that. And that's all I've got. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to ask a little bit about the suicide prevention strategies funding and just can the Minister confirm that this was the money that came out of the negotiations of Regular Members? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, that is correct. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just would be remiss if I let this opportunity go by without making the comment that I wish this number was a lot more. I don't hold it on this Minister's head that it is not more. I do recognize where we're at from a fiscal standpoint as a government. However, I still want to make the point that I think we're paying more at the other end than we would be if we would just put the money upfront properly and into investing in our youth and ensuring that they all have places to go. It was really shocking to me as the deputy chair of social development that not every community even has a youth centre, and I think that right there in and of itself is a basic start. So I just wanted to make the comment that, you know, we need to be putting more money within funding for youth supports and suicide prevention. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Are there any further questions to – okay.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 20232024, Department of Health and Social Services, operations expenditures, health and social programs, not previously authorized, $3,187,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 20232024, Department of Health and Social Services, operations expenditures, longterm and continuing care services, not previously authorized, $2,243,000. Does committee agree?
