Katrina Nokleby

Thank you, Madam Chair. First off, I would just like to make a comment that I am glad to see this is one area where the travel budget has gone down for once, so perhaps there has been a little bit more of a COVID lens put on that one. As well, I am really happy to see that there is an increase in funding, or more than was spent in 2019, towards the Metis organizations. I guess my question is around the NWT friendship centres and the fact that we are no longer funding money there. I know that I have been approached by friendship centres, EDs et cetera, asking for that funding to continue. I...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Trying to dive through all of this, I am looking at the line item for the capital leases under the Government of the Northwest Territories subheading. I note that we currently don't have debt on the books or projected for the end of 2022; however, there is the $500,000 in contingency noting that the contingency is based on the working capital requirements. As the note says: Does the government anticipate that they are going to take on new debt or some sort of new expense here that we haven't currently been spending money on? Thank you.

I know I sound like a bit of a broken record, but I am always going to continue to bring up infrastructure and repeatedly ask the same questions. Can the Minister provide a timeline for the completion of the Great Bear River Bridge, including any unforeseen delays or difficulties due to the COVID situation?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. Can the Minister please outline the plan for the upcoming fiscal year with respect to highway projects and any plans for reconstruction efforts? What I would like to hear is: What is different about this upcoming year versus other years, and has there been an increase to budget for road works in the North? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We always talk about how the North is such a unique place, and one thing that makes it so is our reliance on our winter road network. The allure and mystique of these multi-million-dollar annual ventures is so powerful it even spurred an entire television series, helping to put the NWT on the international stage. However exciting these roads are and how beautiful they are to drive, it must be pointed out that we spend millions of dollars every year building infrastructure that melts, not exactly a fiscally responsible situation.

The Mackenzie Valley Highway was completed...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, you just reiterated what I said, which is that it's going to be dependent on that, so again, I really struggle with why we sit here and have these numbers that are not realistic, creating extra work for ourselves later on to come back and adopt. The answer coming back is, "Well, this is what we do." Well, you are the government; it's what you do. I do believe changes can be made. You just commented that this one could be made, so I am not sure why then that argument flies for other areas, such as travel, et cetera. Yes. More and more, I just feel like this creates...

I think I heard a commitment in there to ask us for our inputs on spending the extra money, so I am happy with that. Those are all my questions. Thanks.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am just looking at the line for fees and payments, how in the actuals it was at the $9,000, and then it has gone up. I notice a few times we had actuals which were quite a bit lower, which makes sense given COVID. However, could the Minister speak to whether or not there was any exercise done to look at perhaps not going back to the original budgets before and doing a bit of a sort of fat-cutting or leaning of budgets now that COVID has sort of changed the operating world we are in? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I know what a contingency is. I am curious to know what you anticipate you would be now accruing or what would be occurring under capital leases. Do you expect to hire more people for the government and have to expand office space? I'm just curious to know why that's showing up there as a contingency. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am really excited to one day be able to drive across that bridge, as I have spent a lot of time in Tulita, so I am pretty excited to hear that. My last question just has to do with funding. Will the Minister commit to pressing for 100 percent dollars for northern infrastructure funding, particularly for northern highways? Will she commit to being a thorn in the side of every FPT table that she is on to impress upon them the urgency for this money for the North? It must start now, not in years, or we will lose too many businesses in the meantime. Thank you.