Rocky Simpson

Thank you, committee. We will now move onto the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. The committee has previously considered the activity summaries for the department. We will return to the departmental summary on page 61. Are there any questions or comments from the committee? I see none. I will now call the departmental summary. Capital Estimates 2021-2022, Municipal and Community Affairs, $29,000,000. Does the committee agree?

I call the Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we have agreed to resume consideration of Tabled Document 181-19(2), Capital Estimates 2021-2022. We will consider those departments that have previously been deferred by this committee. Before we return to those departments, we will go to the Minister of Finance for some opening comments. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, committee. We will now move onto the Department of Lands. The committee has previously considered the activity summaries for the department. We will return to the departmental summary on page 58. Are there any questions or comments from the committee? I see none. I will now call the departmental summary. Capital Estimates 2021-2022, Lands, $234,000. Does the committee agree?

I call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the will of the committee? Mr. Norn.

Thank you, committee. We will now move onto the Department of Justice. The committee has previously considered the activity summaries for the department. We will return to the departmental summary on page 50. Are there any questions or comments from the committee? I see none. I will now call the departmental summary. Capital Estimates 2021-2022, Justice, $1,541,000. Does the committee agree?

Will the Minister of Finance confirm that Indigenous Aboriginal culture is incorporated into the recruitment and interview process?

Thank you, committee. We will now move onto the Department of Infrastructure. The committee has previously considered the activity summaries for the department. We will return to the departmental summary on page 40. Are there any questions or comments from the committee? I see none. I will now call the departmental summary. Capital Estimates 2021-2022, Infrastructure, $292,766,000. Does the committee agree?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Prior to creation of the Affirmative Action Policy, the deficit of Indigenous Aboriginal hires within the public sector has been and continues to be a problem for this government. Madam Speaker, will the Minister of Finance confirm the percentage of Indigenous Aboriginal men and women currently employed within the GNWT public sector and are we moving in a forward direction? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yesterday, I was not able to speak on this matter, so I will now. With respect to the budget, I'm in support of it. There are questions with the funds being spent on the COVID secretariat; however, we always hear people say, "How much is a life worth?" Well, I say, "Is the life of somebody who passes away from COVID worth more than somebody who is an addict, or vice versa?" Really, all lives are important, and in this instance, we have something in front of us that could have really caused devastation. We have addictions, which is devastating in itself, but we focused...

Thank you, committee. We will now move onto the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. The committee has previously considered the activity summaries for the department. We will return to the departmental summary on page 34. Are there any questions or comments from the committee? I see none. I will call the departmental summary. Capital Estimates 2021-2022, Industry, Tourism and Investment, $14,250,000. Does the committee agree?