Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would wish to recognize a few different folks. Two of the pages here today are from my riding. That would be Ms. Jack Penny and Hamza Abouhagar, pardon my pronunciation. Thank you for being with us here today.
And also, I would like to recognize my past coworker from environment and climate change, Ms. Tasha Alexie who is here today to hear about the annual report. Thank you for joining us.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize three of the pages that are helping us out here today from Yellowknife North. We have Kijel Ulbricht, Kaize Roach, and Kate McShane. Thank you for your work here today. And a visitor in the gallery from my riding, Georgina Rolt.
Thank you. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Yellowknife South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to say there are three pages here working from Yellowknife South. Always pleased to have their support and assistance. Michael Bell, Caleb Doering, and Seth Gordon. Thank you for all your help here today.
Member from Yellowknife South. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to your Chambers. I hope you are enjoying the proceedings. It is always nice to see people in the gallery.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, of course the fiscal situation appears to be dire, which means we need to find new revenues or make some cuts. And I think Northerners would much prefer revenues over cuts. So I'd like to ask the Minister of Finance what is our accounts receivable situation? I understand in particular Nunavut does owe us quite a bit of health care costs. Can she speak to how much we're owed as a government? Thank you.
Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, accounts receivable, March of last year, which would be the last time that it comes out with an actual, was at around $131 million. And of that, there is a significant amount that is due to the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority. There is ongoing work happening within the authority to make sure that they are billing back timely. So every time someone from outside of territory with a different health care card is in the territory, that does create, for example, an accounts receivable balance. And as I said, I know they are alive to it.
I believe the Member has also asked a second question with respect to Nunavut. Mr. Speaker, there is some accounts receivable owing as well. I believe roughly at around $10 to $12 million, and that's where Nunavut residents may be passing through our territory and, again, typically is when they're receiving health and social services here within the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, that's $131 million is a pretty big chunk of that $150 million. So we've solved our financial challenges if we just collect on our debts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is definitely part of the kind of work that we want to be doing and making a really strong effort to ensure that we are, in fact, adhering to current industry best practices. These are exactly the conversations to be had, not only about making cuts and certainly not about making cuts to programs and services that people depend on, but looking at what we can do to encourage all departments, every agency, to be maintaining the standards to accounts receivable. Right now, that is if invoices are 30 days or more past due, we want to be making sure that every again, every department and every agency and all the authorities are taking those steps. It can creep up incrementally in one department or one agency and that was what will lead us into a bad situation. That can't happen, Mr. Speaker. I'm committed to following through on that. That's exactly why we're putting ourselves forward with an ambitious fiscal response or a fiscal plan, and I appreciate bringing attention to it. Thank you
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for those commitments. The GNWT has often whispered about a sales tax in the past. Is the sales tax going to be on the table for this government? Thank you.
Pretty quiet whispers, Mr. Speaker. I don't think I've heard anyone whispering those words. Sales tax at this point would obviously have a pretty significant cost increase to individuals and residents. We are already finding that the cost of living anecdotally people say all the time the cost of living is very high. And the recent years and a number of challenges we faced have only made those challenges worse for everyone. So there's no whispers of a sales tax at this point, Mr. Speaker. We're going to have to see what we can do with the government to make sure that we're best utilizing our funds in a way that delivers programs and services but can also bring our fiscal house into order. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Member from Range Lake. Final supplementary.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister. So another area that Northerners often talk about is taxing people who work in the Northwest Territories but don't live here. We have a payroll tax system and a tax benefit that accomplishes that. Are we maximizing those benefits to the Northwest Territories' public purse through that system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is certainly a concern that gets raised that too many people are working in the North, benefitting from high median wages, which do maintain ours too continue to be very high and yet aren't actually providing to any sort of tax revenue here. So with that in mind, some years ago, a payroll tax at 2 percent of employment income was imposed. And we bring about $48 million in payroll tax. About $10 million of that is coming from nonresident workers, Mr. Speaker. So as far as we're maximizing it, obviously increased taxes you increase revenues, but at some point you do start to have impacts on local residents. It is offset for local residents because there are other tax measures, such as the northern resident deduction, available to those who stay in the North. They're not the two aren't tied together but in that sense while you might be paying the right payroll tax here if you live here, you're also getting some significant tax benefits.
Mr. Speaker, asking, though, if we were to change if you change any of these systems, you always increase revenue, but you may be impacting on residents, and that's the balance we have to strike. Thank you.
Minister of Finance. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Justice. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain what mechanisms are in place to address repair and maintenance of tenant units? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in terms of the government's role in the repair and maintenance of privatelyowned residential units, we have the Residential Tenancies Act and, of course, this is administered by the NWT rental officer. The act requires landlords to maintain premises in a state of repair a good state of repair and fit for habitation, and they must comply with all the applicable health and safety legislation that we have in the territory. The rental officer, if a constituent or sorry, if a resident is having an issue with their unit and they believe it is not being maintained to those standards, they can make an application to the rental officer. The rental officer can provide an order that would authorize the tenant to remedy the situation, essentially do the repairs, and then get that money back from the landlord. The act can there can be orders requiring a landlord to compensate the tenant if there are damages to the tenant's goods because of the state of repair of the unit. And the landlord is required to remedy the breach pursuant to the order within ten days of receiving that order, and there are fines if the landlord does not comply with that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. And, yes, I do realize that the NWT rental office has that capacity but they also, in their annual report, state that the office receives many inquiries from tenants regarding landlord obligations to repair but have little follow through. So my question is can the Minister review the tenant complaint process under the rental office to remove any challenges that tenants face to address landlord obligations to repair? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Residential Tenancies Act will be reviewed during this government so all of those issues can be looked at. The access to the rental officer, any barriers that tenants might be facing; we can look at all of that. I cannot commit to remove any barrier that a tenant might be facing, but we do want to make the process as easy and simple as possible so that we can achieve the goals of the act. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, from previous discussions held in this House, which included tabled photographs of infestations of tenant units, there are sometimes ongoing environmental health concerns in residential units. So can the Minister please explain how the NWT rental office works with other government departments to monitor the environmental health and safety of units? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the rental office enforces the Residential Tenancies Act, and that is applicable when there is an agreement between a tenant and the landlord. So while there are other government entities that may monitor environmental health, such as the environment health unit in the department of health of the fire marshal with MACA, those entities are not part of that contract between a landlord and a tenant. So there is an onus on the tenants who actually do that work and bring forward those concerns to the rental officer. The government isn't going to go and inspect people's units and bring forward issues to the rental officer on behalf of tenants. Thank you.
Oral questions. Final supplementary. Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Based on his previous answer, I don't think the Minister will commit to what I'm asking but I will ask all the same. Could the Minister commit to provide an interdepartmental response to address tenant concerns with respect to environmental health in tenant units? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So during this Assembly, I look forward to seeing how we can address some of the issues that we face with housing at large in the territory. I know when we talk about housing, it's often subsidized housing but there's issues with market housing as well. And so with that focus and with the review of the Residential Tenancies Act, I think we can make some progress in this area. But as I stated before, it's up to the individual to bring forward their complaints. It would be ideal if we had the people and the budget to go around and do these inspections and have a very collaborative crossdepartmental approach to ensuring peoples' living conditions are safe, but there is an onus on the individual to bring forward their concerns. And if they're facing issues accessing the rental officer, I encourage them to contact the rental officer and have discussions because they're not just there to enforce orders and issue orders. They are there to provide information as well. Alternatively, I encourage tenants to consult with their MLAs. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Mr. Speaker, I'm going to quote Premier Simpson: It does take time to work together, but that is important. Mr. Speaker, that was said on November 27th by Premier Simpson.
Mr. Speaker, my questions for Premier Simpson is how is he meeting those objectives, the hallmarks of consensus government, by publicly by allowing publicly the release of carbon tax policy and the restoring fiscal balance plan to the public in advance of working with Members? Thank you.
Thank you Member from Yellowknife Centre. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So those documents, those are under the Department of Finance, so I'd like to redirect that to the Minister of Finance. Thank you.
Thank you, Premier. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're all happy to share on this side of the House. Mr. Speaker, the carbon tax regulations that were changed came about as a result, quite frankly, of a significant amount of outcry by the public. So it was very apparent that members of the public were wondering when they would see an equivalent amount of relief to what was being promised by other jurisdictions across Canada, the regulations lie within the Department of Finance to make those changes, and in response to what was really a very strong, very clear request from the public those changes were made to, again, to a regulation, not a policy matter but to a regulation.
With respect to the second question, Mr. Speaker, that of the fiscal strategy, Mr. Speaker, just a little over a year ago there was a review of the Fiscal Responsibility Policy, and the response from committee, which is available publicly, was very clear that a fiscal strategy should be done by the government to help manage the finances of the government in order to achieve priorities and mandate. But committee at that point was very clear in saying that that is not a document that they wanted to be responsible for but committee at the time in fact said you go make sure you do it, and we're going to hold you to account for it.
So it was shared with Members, Mr. Speaker, but and it was thought, quite frankly, that by sharing it and getting it out, we'd be in a position to set our priorities knowing what would be going on rather than turning around and then having Cabinet go off and come up with a Fiscal Responsibility Policy. This way it was all out in the open and was available to Members and to the members of the public in advance. It's a guiding document for policy or for the government, Mr. Speaker. It's not a policy, and it's not a law. It is something that holds us to account for how we're spending the public dollars. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Minister, not the Premier in this case obviously, has just said public their public position is they're responding to the cries of the public, not to Members. That's what I just heard. And she said it was shared to get it out there but my letter to my office says confidential. So how am I supposed to share it? So, Mr. Speaker, my question, I guess for the Finance Minister, who is a recycled Minister from the last government, is how are Members supposed to share confidential documents when you stamp them confidential and you get to publicly release them without discussing them with committee members first?
Cabin Radio.
Members, please direct your questions to this Chair, not to the Member or the Minister. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the carbon tax changes and the removal of the home heating fuel element, that was certainly, at least from all of the media that I was hearing, was a fairly clear and strong public outcry.
With respect to the fiscal strategy, Mr. Speaker, and its being shared, it is being shared confidentially. There's a lot of documents that get shared confidentially between Members and Cabinet, and then after that period of time it does get shared out publicly depending and Members can or cannot respond or can or cannot provide their comments on these documents that get shared. But that there's two different things that are being talked about in this question, two very different things that are being talked about in this series of questions. Carbon tax policy, carbon tax regulations, and then a fiscal strategy to guide the government finances. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my next question is for the Finance Minister is when is committee going to matter? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to speak to that. Mr. Speaker, I spent a fair bit of time in front of committee last Assembly. I expect I'll spend a lot of time in front of committee again. I've also already made efforts to share information with committee, both in terms of sharing the fiscal strategy, which I'll note, Mr. Speaker, in the past, certainly in the four years ago and my knowledge of past Assemblies, a fiscal strategy was not shared in advance, was not shared with committee, was not made public. We've already made better than that. We shared with committee. We then took it out to the public. We're making it open. We're being transparent about it. So I'm not sure exactly what it is that the Member takes issue with me in the course of a few days. I've certainly made every effort to reach out as I've said, make myself available, make myself available to committee Members, have meetings with stakeholders, meetings with members of the public, whoever wants to talk about these things with me. And I'm happy to do the same with this committee and with this Member. Thank you.
Minister of Finance. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister talks as if she's still in the 19th Assembly. Mr. Speaker, this is about the 20th Assembly making these decisions, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister clearly and simply will she work with committee in advance of releasing this information? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, if he would like longer periods of notice in advance of documents, I guess we'll have to find a longer period of time as much as is available. It wasn't much time that we had to turn around coming up with a fiscal strategy in order to have it to Members and then to the public in advance of the priority setting, which seemed like a responsible way of going about things. But I will certainly endeavour to make sure that there's a longer period of time that the Member has these documents before they're made public. Thank you.
Minister. Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I had mentioned the review on regional territorial regional councils. My first question to the Minister of health is can the Minister explain the governing structure of the Territorial Leadership Council and the regional wellness councils? Mahsi.
Member from the Sahtu. Minister of Health and Social Services.
