Caroline Wawzonek

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 34, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 1, 20212022, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the five million is really an initial figure right now to support the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and, more specifically, the disaster assistance committees that have been set up to go in and to provide, firstly, the emergency services and emergency supports that have already been offered. So in terms of the costs of conducting the evacuations, the cost of providing shelter and food for evacuees, you know, cots, fans, camping equipment, supplies, again, food, and various other supplies in a real emergency moment. So I understand the costs...

Thank you, Madam Chair. And Madam Chair, I just want to say I was flipping through the contribution agreement trying to find the specific section, but it just at the risk of repeating, it is quite clear that it is there is not to be any dividend payments, share buybacks, shareholder distributions, any management bonuses relevant to the term of the agreement. So, I mean, there is no lack of clarity that this funding is not meant to be for those purposes board member salaries or parent corporations to a third party, etcetera. So it is quite clear.

I do not believe there have been any challenges...

Madam Chair, the Minister of Housing has been very clear that she is committed to getting housing dealt with ready, sorted, built, rebuilt, and when I'm focusing on the disaster assistance policy and the disaster assistance committee, it is not for lack of recognizing that we need to work outside that stringent process. I want people to know that there is a process, that it is in existence, that the committee is stood up, and you know, and will undertake its work and take it seriously. But, again, that's where I've made the statement today that we're going to be working together to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the business advisory council certainly, once they got going, were meeting very regularly; I think at one point weekly with representatives of the Department of ITI. But before the BAC, or the Business Advisory Council even existed, this group was put together as a working group to start to talk about economic recovery at the tail end of the closure there was still Ekati I think was still closed at the time. It was clear that there was going to be a tremendous economic recovery. There was great fear and uncertainly and so this group came together and said...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, it's come to our attention there might have been a number written incorrectly on the materials that are tabled. So in order to avoid any confusion and ensure that we are accurate, I'd like to make a motion that Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 20212022, be amended by changing the line under "Industry, Tourism and Investment, economic diversification and business support, not previously authorized", that this be changed to $450,000. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I don't know the specifics on that. Perhaps I'll turn it over to  but the Minister of Infrastructure might.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm sure happy to have a chance to speak to vehicle replacements again. It was put to me that, in fact, there is actually quite a wide shortage of vehicles across  well, across a number of places in North America, if not around the world, because of the shortage of semiconductor chips for one and other supply chain shortages that arose earlier in the pandemic.

So it is apparently not particularly surprising that there are some challenges in getting particularly the more specialized vehicles that might have programspecific requirements for them.

So I can, again, say that...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, there certainly was, I think, quite a bit of an analysis done to understand the reasons for the delay in this particular case. And that is parts of what went in to, of course, to the process of determining what the appropriate settlement might to be and how the GNWT might approach the problem, first, in the front end of resolving the matter, but also then using that information going forward. So I will again go back to the Department of Infrastructure and the Department of Health and Social Services to confirm how much of that can be provided to the Members...

Madam Chair, yes, for that level of detail, again, I'm going to send that to, if I might, to Mr. Courtoreille, please.