Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am also looking at the department's business plan, and I see that this May-June session, we were supposed to see the Status of Women Act updated. I don't believe we have seen the legislative proposal for that yet, but can I just get confirmation of whether that work is on track? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am looking at the Department of Finance's business plan, and it said that the Public Service Act was scheduled for introduction in 2020, quarter four. That did not occur. Could I get a sense of when we will see the Public Service Act? Thank you, Madam Chair.

We had this question, kind of lengthy conversation with the Auditor General about P3s, and I know there's new P3 public accounting standards coming out and that office is trying to deal with this issue of how to track P3 debts and ongoing contractual obligations, especially when you get into such large numbers over such a long period of time in the debts. Does the Department of Finance foresee any changes arising from public accounting standards to P3s that will ultimately affect what our total debt is listed to, listed as here in relation to P3s? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I recognize that, perhaps, there's a debate about whether 15-year-olds deserve a living wage. Perhaps there's a debate about whether service industry workers, when they have tips, should make less than $18 an hour, but I know there are actually thousands of people on this program, many of whom were grocery store workers, people we deemed essential, and now, with the passing of this budget, the Department of Finance has decided that they do not deserve to make $18 an hour or that it's not a priority to top up their wages.

I know ECE has a number of different wage subsidy...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to switch gears here to the lines here in our P3 debt. Perhaps I could have the Minister explain to me a little about how we account for P3 debt. I note that, let's take one project, the Tlicho All-Season Road here. The debt went from $74 million to $128 million, but I believe the total cost of that project is $400 million over 30 years. Can I have someone explain to me how P3 debt shows up in regards to the total debt limit of the GNWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe I had different numbers than that, but I will clarify if the department could get back. This is one of those budget lines that I find extremely frustrating that, in passing this budget, we are going to give all of our low wage workers, who we deemed essential, a pay cut. Many of them were making $18 an hour, and they'll go back down to $13.86, which is less than you make on income assistance. I have a number of constituents who will be getting a pay cut the minute we pass this budget. My dream would be that I flip over to ECE, and we have some sort of increase...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Right now, if we're on projection to hit that, and a bad forest fire season costs us $50 million, we don't want to ever be in a position where we are going to exceed our borrowing limit. When I hear that that projection takes us to the life of this Assembly, exceeding it, does the Minister of Finance have a plan or specifically a number that we want to be below our borrowing limit at the end of this Assembly? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Firstly, can I get a sense of how many people have accessed the NWT Wage Top-Up Program? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have had multiple constituent issues of records missing, but the problem is: they do not have access to that electronic medical record system. A portal accomplishes exactly that, is that they can keep a file up-to-date. As the Minister said, there is lots of work to do in this area. COVID, I think, has pushed this work to the forefront. Is there a digital health strategy coming forward with some of the lessons learned and some of the paths we have to go down that will answer these questions such as maybe by 2023, whether we will have this portal? My question to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I still am concerned about the GNWT's own role in this. What I am envisioning is each department being directed to identify their legislation and gaps; each piece of legislation having clauses that allow self-government to happen; each department looking at service standards such that self-government can happen. I think that there is a lot of work to be done within our own government, and I am not seeing that work be done. I have not heard any updates from that. Mr. Speaker, what I am looking for is: Are the departments developing action plans for their own areas of...