Katrina Nokleby

Mr. Speaker, I am having a computer issue. Could you move on? Thank you.

Thank you for that, Mr. Chair. I am just looking at the active positions. Again, seeing that there have been 10 positions added to the headquarters, again, not to the regional offices, could the Minister maybe speak to why a decision was made to increase headquarters staffing versus putting those positions elsewhere? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to look at page 181. I am looking at the contributions generally to NGOs and other organizations to support Northwest Territories residents. I notice that we are really stagnant to our standard budget and not a lot of line item increases, other than the Health and Social Services Authorities funding. I am disappointed to see that. I think that we have had a lot of conversation around mental health and addictions supports and such. I know that NGOs are really good at making their money stretch and are being very effective in our communities, recognizing that a...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes. I do appreciate that there is a huge chunk of employment in this department that is not in Yellowknife. However, as we have adapted to COVID, we've seen we've been able to move to a more virtual and online world, so 82 positions that all sit in headquarters. Perhaps at some point, there could be a look to see if any of those could be moved out to communities, to give opportunities to people in other locations to rise up through this program. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Rather than the monetary amount, I would like to get a feel for how many people did move around. I know that there have been people who were hired from out of the region into that region. I just want to know if there is a way to characterize that happening, but it doesn't sound like it. Maybe I will follow up, then, with the Minister at a later date. Thank you. I'm good.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When I look at the item for program management and administration under regional operations, there is an increase of $300,000, over $300,000. Could the Minister maybe explain why that's increasing? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am just looking at the active positions for operations. I have noted that the department has decreased by six positions over the year and, notably, four of them in regional offices, which is concerning given our mandate of increasing employment outside of headquarters. Could the Minister speak a little bit to the loss of those positions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes. When I look at the next line, which is the leases, which is at $2.8 million, this is just a drop in the bucket compared to that. I think my next question, actually, is in the next section, so I will stop there. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell us whether or not the funds in the communities as suicide prevention fund are generally under or over prescribed and, if so, how can we build capacity in our communities making use of these if you funds such that down the line we see less of a need for this type of funding? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's been a really long day, Mr. Chair, so I'm just going to leave it at that. Thank you.