Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife Centre

Thank you. The position isn't vacant at the moment. We still have a languages commissioner. The increases were due to the plans that were in place because we did put it out to competition, and someone was selected, and we budgeted to have the office moved to Deline. Since everything was planned here and also moving that position to a full-time, because the person declined on the position, the board decided to re-advertise. Because we made those changes to make it a full-time position and have the option to relocate to a different community throughout the Northwest Territories, the board felt...

Due to increased workload, we've increased the Human Rights Adjudication Panel from a part-time position to a full-time position.

I’ll take it as a comment. As I mentioned, it’s fully consistent with what the Chief Electoral Officer has requested. As I mentioned in my opening statement, we’re always trying to work closely with the independent commissioners and continue that. Thank you.

Thank you. No, there will be no further funding requested. The Chief Electoral Officer position will still be staffed. It’s just the extra staff that was needed during the election period, so we’ll have the Electoral Officer, the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer position, and a part-time position, as well. Thank you.

Thank you. As most of the contracts expire at the end of March, due to our post-election year, a lot of the contracts are until a few months after the election or the following year, but we will have one staff, a returning deputy officer on staff, and a part-time position, as well. Thank you.

Yes, every year, it goes up by 2 percent, roughly.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With me today, we have Ms. Kim Wickens, deputy clerk of Members and Precinct Services, and also, my right-hand man, Mr. Tim Mercer, Clerk of the Legislative Assembly.

Yes, I do, Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to present the 2020-2021 Main Estimates for the Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Assembly is seeking an operations expenditures appropriation of $22,720,000 for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. This is an increase of $277,000, or a 1.23 percent increase, in funding from the 2019-2020 Main Estimates.

This budget represents the important work we will undertake during the upcoming fiscal year. The proposed funding will be used to advance strategic initiatives and address forced-growth matters. These are:

additional staff resources for our...

Thank you. Including the Ombud, there are three positions. We have the Ombud plus two staff. Thank you.