Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, right now the Northwest Territories remains the sole signatory to the Freshwater Fish Marketing Act, a federal piece of legislation. That provides a floor. So it provides a guarantee where fishers are guaranteed a certain income amount that comes on a regular basis to them. Unfortunately what the offset of that is as well it's a guarantee and a floor, it also creates a bit of a ceiling. We aren't able to take advantage of the markets that we now believe to be available to the very good product that we have coming out of the freshwater here in the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, that's likely a question that requires not only the Department of Finance to be involved but also the Department of Infrastructure and ECC. So certainly can commit to taking that back to my colleagues and having that bigger conversation. It doesn't necessarily speak to the reason why we are seeing or certainly not the only reason why we're seeing this impacts here on this sup. A lot of our impacts some of the impacts are due to the floods last year but there's also some fairly significant amounts attached to health and social services here.

So one thing I...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, there's been significant contributions from the federal government overall to both the building of the fish plant and to the fishing industry. So I do want to acknowledge that, actually quite a significant amount. I don't know that it's going anything to this specific item although I will note it's my recollection that CANNOR was quite heavily involved in procuring some of the equipment that's gone in. Again, so there's been a lot of supports, but just not perhaps on this particular element of the fish strategy. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, so, Madam Chair, if we do exceed the amount that's available in the supplementary reserve, then that does potentially draw down on what would have been in anticipated or projected to be as a surplus. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, that is correct. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I have on my left Mr. Bill MacKay, deputy minister of Finance. And on my right, Terence Courtoreille, the deputy secretary to the financial management board.

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.

Yes, I do. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair. I am here to present the Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 20232024.

The operations supplementary estimates propose a total increase of $103.952 million of which $21.6 million will be offset by revenues from the Government of Canada and $48.4 million is offset by appropriations lapsed in 20222023.

The operations supplementary estimates propose the following expenditures:

$48.4 million to continue to undertake flood recovery activities across the NWT;

$15.2 million in subsidies to address electrical rate pressures for NWT...

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.

Mr. Speaker, a big part of what we tried to do with this program was to make it easy to apply and then easy to get the money out. So, again, that is another one of the reasons when you look at one of the forms online, it's online fillable, and it's looking for proof of income, income disruption, but we're not asking people to start going and tracking down documents that they might not have had, particularly if the evacuation had lasted longer. So there's provisions in there to speak to their income disruption but not asking for a lot of difficult paperwork. And once they can fill that form out...