Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, I share the Member's frustration of just seeing large numbers. Wanting the government to be fiscally responsible is a message that I am hearing loud and clear, and wanting to be fiscally responsible in a way that is responsive to the needs of the government long-term. Again, I'm hearing that loud and clear.

There is no intention to directly convert. The balance between short-term debt, long-term debt, and a budget is precisely the task that we are faced with in order to create the budget for 2020-2021. This particular supplementary appropriation bill is...

Absolutely, Madam Chair. We can do that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity today to update Members on our economy and to discuss some of the fiscal challenges that we will face as we work to deliver our Assembly's shared priorities.

As we move towards the first budget of this Assembly, we must be realistic in our expectations for how quickly we can make positive changes to strengthen our programs and services and deliver on our commitments to support the NWT's economy.

The Northwest Territories' economy has struggled to recover to a level comparable to where we were before the serious global financial and...

Madam Chair, I am told that would have been approximately fall of 2019.

Thank you, Madam Chair. In the short-term instruments, it would be 1.97 percent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am going to ask Mr. Koe to explain that, please.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Unfortunately, I may not have a fully satisfactory answer for the Member insofar as the simple reality is that, obviously, one can assume or one knows that an asset will come into play and will need to be budgeted for the year that the asset is completed or is in service. Obviously, one could assume that you would know that the hospital that was being built would come into service during this particular year. That said, there were uncertainties as to the exact timeline of the hospital and uncertainties as to the final total of the hospital, and so, again, while I can't...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Two parts: firstly is that, in the process of seeking main estimates from the various departments, individual departments certainly need to be given perhaps more scrutiny, more pressure, to ensure that those estimates are accurate. It will be somewhat challenged in the next budget cycle. Departments have already been providing those estimates before this administration even took their seats, but we will do our best over the next coming months to know that that is an expectation.

Internally, the Department of Finance, when this issue arose and our own conversations were...

Yes, it does.

I do, Mr. Sandy Kalgutkar and Mr. Jamie Koe.