Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Finance on the recent review of the Fiscal Responsibility Policy.
In my statement, I noted that substantive and detailed input from standing committee and that most of that was rejected. Can the Minister tell us whether she would have any objection to making the committee input public so there's greater transparency around that review of the Fiscal Responsibility Policy? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this was certainly an interesting opportunity between the committee and the Department of Finance. We wouldn't necessarily, on the regular practice, certainly in the past, have sent a what is a financial management policy, an internal policy with internal application, for comment and review, but we did do so in this case, and I I don't know that I would say that everything was rejected. I've looked again back at some of the detailed responses provided, both from committee to department and from the department back. Just because, you know, the exact wording proposed isn't taken into isn't, you know, copied down doesn't mean that the considerations are not utilized in terms of crafting better procedures. So, Mr. Speaker, there's quite a number of things that I actually do think are being taken into account and applied, not the least of which is having our Fiscal Responsibility Policy knowing where and how we are at in terms of fiscal or in terms of infrastructure spend available at the time of the capital spend. That's going to be a huge change, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the committee's response.
As far as seeing what the entirety of their suggestions were, Mr. Speaker, I standing committee is certainly an independent body, and I to the extent that there was any concern of confidentiality, I would be happy to waive any expectation I had and of confidentiality of their materials. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. And I think we have a difference of opinion on how much was accepted. But the real way to look at that would be to actually get it released. So it sounds like the Minister's game for that.
So one of the provisions of the revised Fiscal Responsibility Policy is on affordable debt and states, "to ensure that the extent of its debt and borrowing including debt associated with P3 project is within its means to repay and that debt servicing payments do not adversely impact programs and services."
So can the Minister tell us what type of analysis and disclosure there will be now with regard to P3 debt and its impact on programs and services? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is sometimes I think a wouldn't want anyone to ever forget that debt is ultimately is debt, and debt at the GNWT is exactly that. All of it comes in under our federallyimposed borrowing limit. P3 debt also comes in and has to be under the federallyimposed borrowing limit. It shows up also as well in budget materials that we have out. It is disclosed in the borrowing. P3 debt is disclosed separately in the borrowing plan. It's analyzed and it's presented in the budget fiscal papers. And finance certainly has to then evaluate where we're at in our borrowing and whether or not we can face any increased debt. That's exactly the kind of analysis that goes into those papers. It goes in, it's often discussed in budget dialogues. The P3 debt servicing payments are in the operating budget. We see it show up there in the mains. So it's part of that overall fiscal picture that we present at various opportunities. And as I had indicated, we'll be looking to do so on a more regular basis further to the comments from committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Another area of concern is with analysis in reporting on compliance with Fiscal Responsibility Policy. A variety of performance measures are outlined now in the new policy, but there doesn't appear to be any public reporting required.
So can the Minister tell us with what, if any, public reporting will take place on the prescribed performance measures in the new Fiscal Responsibility Policy? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, again, Mr. Speaker, in terms of the public reporting, performance measures really are a part of well, there's a number of places where it would come in. They're a part of the work that Finance does in preparing the main estimates that's in the budget papers that are presented as part of those main estimates. It is often part of reporting that takes place when we're doing budget dialogues to help orient participants to what's going on in our fiscal picture. We certainly also are reporting on the provisions when we report in the public accounts. And, really, Mr. Speaker, the idea of performance measures, even large, could simply be any discussion in the House around the state of the finances of the GNWT. So, you know, Mr. Speaker, again, there is the formal capacity, again the budget papers, the main estimates, the public accounts, the Fiscal Responsibility Policy, which will now also come in at capital planning, but also less formal opportunities like budget dialogues and discussions herein. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. When I raised the Fiscal Responsibility Policy in the last sitting, the Minister revealed that there had been a, quote, "checkin" with at least two of the credit rating agencies. I'm not sure what that means. Were they given a draft, an opportunity to comment or what? So can the Minister tell us what this checkin was all about and what happened? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the recommendations of committee actually was to find ways to increase the presence of independent fiscal analysis and advice to the Northwest Territories government. And, Mr. Speaker, the very purpose of the relationship that we have with the credit rating agency is, indeed, to evaluate their client's financial health. We, as the Department of Finance, meets with credit rating agencies and we have two, not just one, now we have increased that to two during the life of this government, Mr. Speaker, and we meet with them annually to give them an update as to our fiscal situation and as to steps we are taking around fiscal management.
Mr. Speaker, they are very conscious of maintaining distance and being objective. We're not even allowed to buy them lunch when they meet with us, Mr. Speaker. And so this is exactly the kind of meeting and opportunity where we were able to say that we're making some changes to our fiscal management and describe that to them. The reaction that we received from them was positive. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
