Julian Morse

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So we are starting to get to the bottom of it here. And I appreciate that, that clarifying information. So now speaking to the particularly the socio-economic and the program that the deputy minister just mentioned, can she kind of describe what the department is doing to maximize benefits to Northerners from that project in particular and remediation in general.

Okay, thank you. So this is news to me, I didn't realize this. So ECE is involved in dealing with the employment opportunities for mine remediation for Northerners?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm being blinded by, like, a beam of miraculous light here.

My question on this one, I believe that this division -- well, I guess the first question just to make sure I'm getting -- I'm in the right spot here, but this division deals with remediation employment opportunities and mining employment opportunities in the NWT, is that correct?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you to the department for that answer. I actually -- I really appreciate that one, and I'm quite excited to hear what's happening in that regard.

You know, last but not least, this one's just a comment for the record, but kind of build upon what my colleague was talking about with the economic vision and the, you know, increased investment and diversification that we were talking about, something that the Member from Yellowknife North has spoken about a fair bit, and I completely agree with, is just that when we're talking about economic diversification, I think...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I won't repeat the questions on the economic planning. I pretty much just agree with what the Member for Great Slave just asked about and her comments on it. But moving on under this department, the business plan, again, page 154, the support for arts. So I actually support the mandate commitment, I do appreciate seeing continued support NWT Arts and arts organizations. I won't read out the whole thing. But noting that increased number of funded artists and arts organizations funding, just to that point. I've spoken about this a couple times over budget deliberations but...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Does the government have kind of a wider plan for managing cost overruns in general on contracts? Like, is there -- because, you know, it's not just this project. Obviously, we're seeing a number of different ones and, you know, this is the second set of supplementary appropriations I've seen in my short time here. And, yeah, I'm just curious. I mean, it just seems to be, you know, projects tend to balloon, you know, the costs just go up and up and up. I'm just wondering if we have any kind of planning policy changes in place or being planned to kind of get at this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've been hearing from our local cannabis grower and producer that they are having difficulty kind of gaining a foothold in the industry knowing that they're operating in the North. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister describe -- the Minister of Finance specifically, describe the policy used for supporting our local producers? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, I appreciate those answers from the department. Always appreciate hearing that a Minister feels that they have got the resources they need. You know, I think it's obvious that this is one that is important to me and I do want to see the department prioritizing, and I think it's an important part of getting effectiveness out of that mandate commitment. So, yeah, I just want the Minister to keep the House up to date if they're being resourced adequately to move on those recommendations quickly.

I'm just going to move over to the CIMP program, Cumulative Impact Monitoring...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Now, Mr. Chair, in the Minister or department's opinion, looking forward to the 2025 audit and of course completion of the 2020 one -- the 2020 audit is what I mean, not 2021 -- does the department feel that they are adequately resourced to respond to those recommendations in a timely manner?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I note that the Northwest Territories environmental audit falls into this area. My first question is, is this the area where I would be asking questions about implementation of recommendations of the audit?