Deputy Premier
Statements in Debates
Thank you, Madam Chair. I did not make the effort to hunt for those documents. Let me see if the deputy minister happens to know that detail, as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Perhaps, I'll just let the deputy minister continue on the explanation on the P3s, please.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have a date in front of me, and I'm sure that's because it's dependent somewhat on what happens with collective bargaining. What I will commit to doing is perhaps doing a bit of an either/or and trying to come up with a sense of what some different timelines might look like, subject to again the different ways that this might unfold.
Again, I want to emphasize the importance of having a conversation, having a consultation with the union. They're a key party in this work and in this process, so wanting to ensure again that that we look at whether we do it right...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that this number could well be into the hundreds. The requirement of having these forms is for any employee who is taking part in any outside activity. That could be anything as simple as volunteering as a sporting coach to having self-employment or to having some additional part-time employment, being on a board, et cetera. This is a good opportunity to make it clear that all employees should be filling out those forms, but it's really a number that is quite likely into the hundreds, if not beyond that, and it's done department by department. I have not...
Thank you, Madam Chair. Perhaps I will suggest that we direct this one to the deputy minister from the accounting perspective as to why we decided to include it on this line item here. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Internet service providers and Internet rates are quite heavily regulated in the Northwest Territories by CRTC. Certainly, we do have, at the Department of Finance, ongoing discussions with the major players in the industry here, but as I say, a lot of that is going to depend on the work that is being done with CRTC and not with GNWT specifically. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the projections obviously do get -- I think the Members will appreciate that they are being done continually, and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, they were being redone every so many months. That will continue throughout the time of the pandemic because the pandemic has impacted on the government's position quite significantly, which is in no short order why we wound up with increasing the borrowing limit when we did in the first place.
I think at this point, Madam Chair, it would be appropriate to say that we will continue to do those updates...
Thank you, Madam Chair. By doing this joint project, that is really meant to alleviate both sides of a concern, which is to ensure that staffing processes remain fair and compliant with best practices and with transparent processes, while also ensuring the expertise within the client department, in this case the health department. Hopefully, if the unit does achieve the targets that are being set to increase recruitment and retention of healthcare workers, then perhaps that is a question that I will be coming back to in time as to, if this is, in fact, successful, what that might mean for...
As I said, there is right now an expression of interest open really to explore what options there might be, to see whether it's possible or how it would be possible to increase and improve cellular coverage on the highways in the Northwest Territories. Once we have that information in hand, I will certainly be sharing it with my colleagues in the Legislative Assembly, with a view to seeing, again, what we can do to improve coverage for all of the territorial highways. However, again, the first step is to get the information for that first stretch and to see what that can bring to us as some...
Madam Chair, if I could perhaps suggest the deputy minister is a better place to explain the supplementary reserve, please.