Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on my left I have the deputy minister of finance Bill MacKay. And on my right, Mandi Bolstad is the deputy secretary to the financial management board.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am here to present the Tabled Document 340-20(1), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 1, 2025-2026. This document proposes a total increase of $178.555 million in capital expenditures, comprised of the following items:

$92.94 million for infrastructure expenditures funding for projects that were not completed in 2024-2025. This amount is fully offset by unspent appropriations in 2024-2025;

$41.6 million for contributions to Housing NWT for infrastructure investment in public housing;

$20.9 million for increased costs associated with the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, again, just so that we're clear as a get-go, a project can request a carryover only under specified circumstances, and that is specifically if either there is already substantial work underway or if a contractual obligation exists. So on -- you know, there's different reasons why different projects can see particular carryovers and, you know, they can range from anything from a contract being signed, you know, right at the line and such that they then end up, you know, requiring a carryover because they didn't quite meet the cutoff for having, you know, the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There certainly have been changes over time, Mr. Chair, so there are MACA contributions in 2019, 2020, and 2021 were higher than what they continued to be thereafter. I'm not in a position here to say why in the last sort of -- why that change was made some now five years ago. Certainly would be happy to look into that further if I -- if it's helpful. But, really, Mr. Chair, the bigger -- the biggest single loss is coming as a result of the changes in the kind of funds from the lottery revolving fund that's just simply, as I said earlier, not seeing the kinds of revenues...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the project is in the implementation phase which is hopefully a positive word. The plant has been substantially completed already. It is expected to be fully commissioned in this current summer. There was some modification required for some of the ice harvesting related systems and that is where the carryover, I believe, originates, and that system had to be modified and then reconstructed, so that is where the carryover came with this. The plant is otherwise, as I said, operational, and I -- it would be hopeful would be fully implemented and therefore not see...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, so I'll see if we can get the specifics on the lottery revolving fund just shortly. I can say that in terms of more broadly how we get to where we are, where there's a deficit in this particular fund. Mr. Chair, there's a couple of factors at play. One is that the revenues being received from lotteries are not simply -- or simply not keeping up with the costs and the expenditures. Lottery revenues are trending downwards and, meanwhile, the cost of sending students and youth and their associated coaches and sport teams on trips are becoming ever more expensive...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I have these projects right now broken down one by one, so, for instance, by Inuvik, by Hay River, etcetera, so I can't give a simple number. I can say these projects have -- if I'm not mistaken, all four of them been subject to delay over more than just the one fiscal year. I can recall back in just around the times of COVID, there was a change because the estimates that were done pre-COVID in terms of bed requirements were updated through and then immediately towards the end of when the COVID-19 pandemic was subsiding. That led to some changes in planning...

Thank you, Mr. Chair, I do.

Mr. Chair, I am here to present Tabled Document 341-20(1), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization) No. 1, 2025-2026. This document proposes a total appropriation increase of $47.15 million, $38.5 million of which will be offset by revenues from the Government of Canada and various provincial governments.

Notable items supported by federal funding include:

$20.6 million to support health and social services cost share agreements, including $9.2 million for First Nations and Inuit Home and Community Care and $8 million for Northern...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Very happy to say we also have Yellowknife South representation in the House here. There are quite a number of health care professionals from this riding, and with us today is Keela Gould and, again, if I missed anyone because there are so many, I would welcome them to the House as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, in fact, there is a bit of an update. We are later -- I guess not quite this month. Early in June, Department of Finance officials and staff from NWTMA will be together going and doing a workshop that helps investigate and helps learn about what interest-based negotiation might look like, so we can see where that process takes us. Thank you.