Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can the Minister just explain to me where that money is found in the budget? Was that already in the capital budget or is that coming forward in a SUP? I'm assuming that that expansion and that contract are not in the $2 million I see here for TSC. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you. And I guess, you know, my understanding is what historically has happened is that leasing has been rather decentralized, and departments just kind of tell Infrastructure what they need. And I guess I'd like the department to speak to any work they might be doing in this area to, you know, centralize it, maybe be push back sometimes and say hey, you don't need this office space; actually we're going to move you into this building because it'll save us a bunch of money. And I know there has been some new design standards to perhaps, you know, lower the total number. I'm just...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recognize that the Minister, you know, probably there was some negotiations maybe going on, or still ongoing in this matter, but I am still looking for a bit of an explanation of how this did not happen.

I hear that we got a labour market supplement. Somehow we got money out of cabinet, never an easy task, and we wanted to pay nurses more money and the union said we will not let our members have more money, is what I am hearing. Can I just get a clarification from the Minister as to why they said that? Thank you.

No further questions. I'm sure I'll have questions on the 44 percent of that money that is leases when we get to the information item. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As noted by the Member from Great Slave, today, March 1st, is an important date for a number of reasons. Today, restrictions end, we are welcoming tourists back to our territory but, Mr. Speaker, all of these actions pale in comparison to one event that occurred today which is the opening of the snow castle, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to report that a special envoy of MLAs went down at lunchtime to the grand opening of the snow castle, and it is better than ever this year. The slide is in great working order, Mr. Speaker, and I encourage all of the residents of the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I guess perhaps that $88 million is not as bad as I thought it was because I imagine it includes some amortization of things like bridges, and I I'm getting a nod over there.

I guess I want to move on to contract services here, another line item that I strongly suspect has a pretty steady increase upwards. We're spending $69 million in regional operations on contract services. Can I just get a sense of what the biggest contracts are that make up that $69 million? Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. You know, I guess I'll note that my understanding is that most, if not all, of our municipalities don't salt their roads. It's one of the nice things about vehicles up here is they don't rust. And I'm just curious whether we have done any studies of whether this $1 million in salt actually makes the roads safer. I guess, you know, considering the coldest winter months, we're not using any because it's useless, I'm just curious, you know, whether we've we are just too far north to actually be spending this much on salt, or have we done any safety standards, or are...

Thank you, Madam Chair. No, I believe the Minister was asking for 478,000 more money in road salt but I'm looking for the total that would bring us up to. I believe we're spending quite a bit more than that already. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I look forward to seeing the SUP going forward in this fiscal that we're reviewing now I guess next fiscal, and I'll have a number of questions then.

But it's my understanding that we're actually hoping to reimburse some people who have already paid childcare costs in this calendar year. Can I just get an update of how that work is going and when we expect that to occur? Thank you.

Yeah, and I guess perhaps I would also like the Minister to clarify if I have a misunderstanding here. I know TSC kind of operates on this model of charging departments for the service provide, and it may not in fact be a true cost to the GNWT. So perhaps in coming back, the Minister could also clarify a bit about the TSC and what this $30 million means. Does that mean we are actually spending $30 million? Thank you.