Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The pricing review is not done yet. It is on track and on time, and it should be back by March. Once we have the information back, available to us, we will be able to make some decisions. Right now, beer manufacturing, of which there is exactly one individual, is receiving a fairly significant discount in terms of the typical markup that would normally be seen. Where they are at right now is worked on fairly significantly between that producer and the department, so I am confident, Mr. Speaker, that, when that review information comes back, we will again work with our...

We are on track to deliver on a pressing review about the structure of the pricing of alcohol in the Northwest Territories. As I say, it's on track. It's coming back in March. As soon as I have the information put together, that will demonstrate what, in fact, is happening in other jurisdictions, what best practices there are available, and at that point, we can make a decision based on that information as to whether or not there are best practices that we aren't following and go forward from there.

Mr. Speaker, at this point, if we were to earmark a certain percentage, my concern, of course...

The most common workplace complaint cites either personal harassment or abuse of authority.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The expression of interest is a tool that we're using right now in the Department of Finance essentially to suss out what the options might be. An expression of interest is just that, to go out to the private market to see what options they may have, what ideas they may have available to us so that, indeed, we can look for a solution to this problem. As I've said before in the House, there is not an obvious market solution. There are no profits to be made or gained from opening up cell towers, but technologies are constantly changing, technologies are emerging, and it...

I can't disagree that the indexing or the lack of indexing is certainly a challenge. It doesn't allow us to be matching up to inflation, necessarily, but we certainly do get a benefit in terms of our northern residence deduction, so I want to be a bit cautious before biting the hand that feeds us all. That said, the last year, I've had a lot of engagement with the federal Finance Ministers, both of them, and it's been positive. The focus has been on COVID-19 relief and supports. It is certainly my expectation that, as we have all gotten back a bit more to some of the more regularly scheduled...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not the federal Finance Minister and I don't control the federal taxation. There is a new Finance Minister over in the federal government, as well, so it may well be that there is more change yet to come. As for any formal changes, I can say that we've been advised that the Canada Revenue Agency expects that some of the challenges that may have led to more audits have been resolved and, indeed, that that hopefully should not continue to be a problem for residents of the Northwest Territories. Aside from that, I don't have a, "what we heard" report from the federal...

I sense the theme of where this is going, and really, all of the policies in the world are really only as good as the people who are applying them. I am conscious of that. We certainly talk a lot within the Department of Finance around making sure that training is available and accessible; that the drive to give employees time to take their training is there; and that there's a conscious awareness from the top down that, really, we want employees to take the training. We want managers to be abreast of their training. We want them all to have those opportunities to take the right training so...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Affirmative Action Policy applies to the summer student and internship programs, just as it does to all GNWT hires. Hiring managers are expected to be fully aware of all of those policies, certainly, and as I had referenced earlier, there are a variety of training tools, including an online tool kit for new managers as maybe needed so that they can employ that policy in this form of hiring as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

On some occasions, certainly, alternative remedies would be recommended or utilized, which take an approach that is not necessarily ending with a win/loss per se, but, to the extent that there is a tracking of those that do have a formal finding, it is 68 percent that come out in favour of the complainant.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We receive an average of 27 complaints per year.