Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm hesitant to speak directly on behalf of the business community in this role but I can certainly say the engagements I've had to date with mineral resource companies, exploration advanced, and even the operating mines, all certainly agree that they are keen to see the advancement of green energy options in the North and certainly ask about the work that's happening at Taltson. And similarly, any businesses that are in the construction industry that are in the would have an opportunity to benefit from greener energy certainly are asking for updates, and...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, so the budget, of course, isn't drawn up on a per capita basis. It's not per 33 communities divided up by 33. There are occasions, for example with MACA's budget, where of course Members may want to ask about the specific dollars that go into a community. But for most departments, a lot of what happens is territorywide. So, for example, education or health is delivering services that may be regional. They may be delivering services that are, you know, done in a headquarters. There are services that are done planning communications that are done that...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, there's different types of grants that we get from the Government of Canada. I mean, it's obviously a pretty excellent question here for budget session and being day 2 of having just received our the budget speech. So I'm trying desperately to find my summary of revenues, Madam Speaker. I have it in front of me now.

So the biggest grant we get from Canada, the territorial formula financing. That is really the backbone of what forms our budget. But there's others in there that I think perhaps don't always get the same attention and may be less well...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, that's an interesting question that I'll have to take away. It may well be that the vital statistics is tracking some information or receiving information more broadly about the impacts of mental health on mental health pre and postpandemic. It may be of some assistance or of some interest that interestingly GNWT employees, as I said we are tracking the total numbers and we're actually using less sick days, less leave without pay days than in prior fiscal years. Prepandemic, we were at 9.1 days in the 20182019 but current fiscal right now, coming to the...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I can't speak to the Member's personal or specific circumstances but there's a continual renewal of the kinds of programs and policies that are available. The Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework brings it under one umbrella and puts targets on departments and puts an onus on senior management as part of their performance plans that they have to deliver on this. So we're taking those things seriously because it doesn't need dollars; it needs people to buy in and to understand the importance. These people to actually at the leadership level and...

Madam Speaker, I don't know that there could be a better set of first questions, certainly not coming to me.

Applause

That's a statement about consensus government. That's how we do government here. We're going to sit down, and that's where the consultations take place, is that we sit down, we talk, we learn from each other, and I am very happy to do that. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And Madam Speaker, so individual departments, of course, will have the reporting obligations to their counterparts in the federal government. And as we go through the review department by department, starting I think later today, we'll have I would certainly encourage everyone in the House to engage exactly in that dialogue of, you know, what is that we have to report back to the federal government on, what is perhaps the nature of that reporting, and, you know, always open to having the conversation about whether we are providing enough information as is available...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm conscious of time on this one, I have to admit. Yes, I'm struggling with where to start.

So we have quite a number of programs that we do provide to employees, some that were introduced to as additional items in the course of the COVID19 pandemic. I think really, though, Madam Speaker, this is a much bigger issue. I can say that I had inquired with the department and the conversation around morale which is related perhaps in part, though certainly doesn't encompass everything that I know is specific to mental health but about that wellness of...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, there's not a category of leave that is specific to stress or mental health leave. We do, of course, track and are aware of general sick leave but the specific reasons that someone might be on sick leave is, for I suspect fairly reasonable privacy reasons, that's not something that we are tracking. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I am more than happy to address this. We've done, actually in some ways, actually, this is exactly the kind of thing I was speaking to. We do want to be influencing where we are in five to ten years, and that does mean we need to be taking action today for Indigenous recruitment and retention. That is why we've moved forward on the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework. That was released earlier or I guess a few months ago now, and we've had an opportunity to speak to committee about that and have public review of that alongside committee...