Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So a hundred -- upwards of a hundred million, so we do have some sort of estimate of what is courthouse facility would cost, or is that the Minister kind speculating on a ceiling for a project of that size? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7 on the orders of the day. Thank you.

Can the Minister commit to getting it to this -- to the House or this Member? Thank you.

Thank you for that. And I think as much as I appreciate the other areas of the department working on economic diversification, there's only so many people working in the Northwest Territories that can ever be working in the Northwest Territories, and these resource projects are always going to deliver the biggest economic activity, the biggest bang for our buck, because we just simply can't compete with larger jurisdictions with significant workforces or substantial enough workforces to fuel the whole economy. So mining, of course, has a robust presence. There's plenty of low carbon...

Yes, thank you. Okay, well that resolves the expenditure problem. But I think -- I just really want to drill down on this thing that there is not a proposal for a wellness plan. It's not in the pre -- there's not a preplanning thing. It's not being proposed in the budget. It's included in the speech, and it's -- and that's it. So I think it's unfair to characterize this as, like, if we -- you know, if the budget gets approved, then the wellness centre moves ahead, and we transfer the jobs in Smith. Correctional officers are not social workers. They're not addictions and treatment workers as...

Thank you. Yeah, I think that's correct. I think it's probably 500K that went in in the 19th because it was increased to a million in the 18th Assembly. So given that there is quite a bit of interest in this fund, given that it's at times an economic multiplier, and that it hasn't been increased for some time, why isn't the Minister seeking an increase to this fund at a time when we need to get the exploration projects moving quickly to take advantage of the critical -- the interest in critical minerals and the significant amount of funding that's out there for critical minerals projects and...

Just to clarify, so this money that's in this supp, this is going to -- are these improvements for the men's side of the facility, or does it work that way? So just the entire facility, or are we able to drill down into that? Because it seems odd that we're going to spend $398,000 and -- well, $398,000 on a facility that we're planning on shuttering. Thank you.

Thank you. And what is the economic -- or the department's analysis of economic multipliers related to this funding? Thank you.

Yes, thank you. And, I mean, an audit is -- I think we're looking for more of a performance audit rather than just a financial audit. I think the accounting is clear. It's more the performance of the project. So I guess we'll wait, but I know that this is not anywhere near to being a closed issue should -- you know, like, this is an extraordinary amount of money for an infrastructure project that is important but, notably, is not actually lowering the cost of living for anyone in the Northwest Territories. So for this much money to go into a project that is having an impact on greenhouse gas...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to ask about the mining incentive program. What was the subscription rate for the program last fiscal year? Thank you.