Caroline Wawzonek

Sorry, Madam Chair. It's simply to say that, obviously, this is really a matter that should go to the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, to the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation to speak to, whether or not there is anything to be taken from the approach here, whether there is any change in future approaches. However, with respect to the borrowing plan here, as I say, it's really just reflecting the projects, including the Hay River project but not exclusive to the Hay River project, and showing the impacts that that has on the total borrowing plan of the government. I am not...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't know that we have actually completed that at this point, but I did anticipate that there may be some technical questions. Perhaps, as I say, again, while I don't think that's been completed to date, I would like to suggest turning it over to the chief information officer, just to speak a bit to what work has been done so far in that consolidation and what improvements may have already been realized. Thank you.

There is currently a resource-royalties review underway. There is, of course, the Mineral Resources Act regulatory scheme that is being reviewed and looked at to bring the Mineral Resources Act into place. To the extent that there is some concern about the way that the fund gets managed, which is detailed quite extensively in the regulations surrounding the heritage act, then, at that point, again the Department of Finance is more than happy to assist a committee of the Assembly which is charged, in fact, with the review that is supposed to happen in the 10-year plan. I am looking forward to...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to have the question. That is really in part one of the directions we may wind up going in doing government renewal because, rather than sort of stepping in and "leaning," to use that term, or cutting automatically without knowing what, in fact, trends are, what, in fact, the impacts or outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic will be into the future, the preferred approach at this point is to do something that is methodical, to do something that is value-based, and to do something that will actually gather up evidence in a way that allows us to make decisions...

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. There certainly was a pause put on when COVID-19 came about, and there was a lot of uncertainty in what would be happening as workers were all moved to working at home over the spring and summer. Now, that said, as of December 1st, there are openings already posting for students for 2021, for the summer of 2021 as well as for the 2021-2022 internship program, so it is certainly my hope that the program will be back up to full speed and full strength. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do not have the detail here, but I anticipate Deputy Minister Kalgutkar might be able to provide a bit of background on that.

Thank you, Madam Chair. There was an additional $2.412 million approved to help accommodate the costs associated with safe reopening of the Northwest Territories schools as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response. This would have included, for example, computer devices and electronic devices, Internet connectivity devices, turbo sticks, to students who may not have had access to those resources otherwise. That is the reason for this particularly high item in 2021. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The value of the resources that are going out from the Northwest Territories, perhaps some of the challenges that we are facing right now, is that we are not necessarily speaking about the same thing. The royalties that are calculated, Mr. Speaker, come from the profits, and so the mines that have to generate profits, that have these resources, have to pay their staff, have to pay salaries, have to pay taxes, a variety of taxes, and have to pay royalties, as well, and, of course, have to pay for the capital to build the mines that actually then can generate the profits to take the resources...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework certainly is being led by the Department of Finance. There were some delays over the last year going out and doing the consultation that was considered appropriate and necessary, but that is back on track now. I am just confirming, Madam Chair, but I believe that it's expected that this program will get underway this fiscal year. However, I don't have here in front of me, the exact date when we would expect to have that underway, so I don't have targets in place now. The idea with the framework is that the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, Madam Chair, this is a base budget that was developed coming out of devolution, when certainly the amounts that were anticipated for resource royalties and that were being received for resource royalties were much higher than what they are right now or certainly what they have been in the last year. What would happen is that the amount lapses; it does not get paid out. It's not actual money right now. It's not here. It's money that we are anticipating and that would then, if the revenues are supported, if the actual revenues are supported to reach this goal, that...