Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The questions I have are for the Minister of Finance. Can the Minister confirm if her department is working with other departments to ensure northern businesses are provided preference and every opportunity to participate in projects this upcoming construction season? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Finance.
Thank, Mr. Speaker. For the upcoming season, all businesses will be subject to the existing processes that we have, which are meant to support northern businesses, including the BIP, the Business Incentive Policy, and all of the current procurement processes that exist. To the extent that we want to improve and change those processes, we did accelerate the procurement review. That is underway, and one of the very questions we are looking at is whether there are new, additional, different ways to better support those businesses. While, if there are improvements, they will not necessarily happen in time for this season, we do have some existing processes in place and are looking constantly to improve them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Can the Minister confirm if her department in cooperation with other departments has identified any projects that can be considered Aboriginal set-asides and negotiated?
Under the current system, having set-asides is not one of the current tools we necessarily have. We did, of course, not too long ago negotiate the MoU with the Tlicho Government, which does include some enhancement of the way in which procurement is done on Tlicho lands. I know that there has already been quite a lot of interest from other Indigenous governments who also had economic measures in their agreements, so those discussions are underway. At present, the tools still are what the tools still are. We are, however, again in the course of the procurement review asking that very question: should there be a different way of having procurement done for Indigenous governments in the territory? Again, I am happy to have the questions asked, and I hope that in this process we will be able to identify if there is a better way of doing business.
Can the Minister confirm if her department in cooperation with other departments looked at the structure of the work and how it can be tendered so smaller businesses can benefit? What I am asking is: can contracts be broken into smaller parts to benefit smaller businesses?
Yes, I can say certainly that Procurement Shared Services under the Department of Finance really assists other departments. The other departments are really the clients of Procurement Shared Services, but those conversations and those decisions around what is the best way to undergo a procurement, what is the best way to advance a project, including whether or not the contract can be broken up, that rests with the home department that is responsible for the project. They then work with Procurement Shared Services to do the procurement of it. However, that exact conversation of how to do it, how to best serve the businesses, that is a conversation that is happening. It is going to continue to happen, and Procurement Shared Services will very happily then enact whatever those decisions are. The short answer is yes, but that is the long answer of how.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for those answers since I only gave her the questions a few minutes ago. This question here, maybe she will not have the numbers at her fingertips, but can the Minister confirm: what is the estimated total budget for projects this construction season? Thank you.
Our 2021-2022 capital budget is over $500 million, including a budget for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation; in 2020-2021, our capital spend was already $293 million, so money is getting out the door. There were some challenges last year, no doubt, with COVID and some of the challenges that would have imposed in terms of supply, in terms of exemptions for people moving in and around the territory. The capital budget we have now is significant. All departments are very conscious of the fact that, number one, we need our infrastructure to grow and, number two, we want to support northern businesses. With a large budget on the way and this spring season certainly coming down the pipeline, I am confident that we will be seeing increases in spending in terms of our procurement and our capital over the next few months. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
