Caroline Wawzonek

To give some context and some background, the request for the expression of interest was issued on February 1st, and it closes February 22nd. From that point, then, obviously we will be reviewing what's in there. We would expect to review those proposals beginning on February 28th and we would have to conduct some internal reviews and no doubt engage with stakeholders further before anything further might take place. Hopefully, we would be in a position, subject to those reviews, to be soliciting for formal proposals, if we do indeed go that direction, by the summer.

I am glad the question stays on the same train of thought because I should add that officials actually have continued to engage on this topic. So, to the extent that there has been some improvement with respect to Canada Revenue Agency looking specifically to Northerners as well as trying to simplify at least a little bit the lowest return airfare, that is the benefit of having the officials continuing to engage on the day-to-day work that does impact us. Look, I'm happy to commit to checking in with my colleagues in Nunavut and Yukon to see if this is an issue that is of shared interest to us...

Yes, trips in the Northwest Territories do qualify for the travel deduction. That is specifically a maximum of two trips per year per household member, so please go take your staycation and continue to do so. For those eligible trips, Northwest Territories taxpayers are claiming, well, there's a number of different things, and I don't know if this is the right opportunity to be going through all the tax advice that people might need, but the advice is out there. In short, yes, the staycations people have been taking to support our local economy are, indeed, eligible for claiming.

No. Right at this point, there is not a formal audit that takes place of the summer student program. In general, right now, we do certainly get feedback, and the feedback as I've been told is that it's positive. It's a program that is well received by students and well received by departments as this is a great tool for them to recruit and retain northern Indigenous students. Certainly, if there are concerns, I want those concerns brought forward. I would say, at this point, out of the 84 students registered, 21 are Indigenous Aboriginal and 54 are Indigenous non-Aboriginal, and those are the...

Yes. There is a database that gets created, which is why summer students are asked to register and interns are asked to register as part of the process. When a hiring manager wants to participate in that, they have to get access to the database. When they get access to the database, they are reminded that the hiring process does still need to apply the Affirmative Action Policy. That reminder is right there. Again, at this point, they really should be versed in those policies as part of their training as being managers.

We certainly do have a policy on harassment-free and respectful workplace. That is a stated policy of the Department of Finance and human resources. Indeed, there is to be an updated policy with new accompanying guidelines expected to come out this fiscal year. With that, of course, there needs to be significant training done to ensure that not only managers but employees and managers are aware of those policies. To date, I can say we have had over 550 employees and over 630 managers participate in the existing harassment-free and respectful workplace training, with much more to come. Some of...

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to present the 2021-2022 Main Estimates for the Department of Finance. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $15.2 million or 5.3 percent over the main estimates of 2020-2021. These estimates support the mandate objectives for the Department of Finance while continuing to meet the GNWT's fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending. Highlights of these proposed estimates include:

$76.8 million in contribution funding to the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation; and

$8.4 million to increase Carbon Tax Offset...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Sorry, I'm not seeing a $37,000 line item. Is this under contract services, Madam Chair? I believe that is the line item that we are looking at. The actuals for 2019-2020 were at $37,000. The set amount of budget for contract services 2020-2021, as well as now, 2021-2022, is $83,000, Madam Chair. There would have been a freeze back in 2019-2020 at the time of the election, and that would have had a significant impact on contract services that year, a difference of $46,000.

Sorry, Madam Chair. It's simply to say that, obviously, this is really a matter that should go to the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, to the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation to speak to, whether or not there is anything to be taken from the approach here, whether there is any change in future approaches. However, with respect to the borrowing plan here, as I say, it's really just reflecting the projects, including the Hay River project but not exclusive to the Hay River project, and showing the impacts that that has on the total borrowing plan of the government. I am not...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't know that we have actually completed that at this point, but I did anticipate that there may be some technical questions. Perhaps, as I say, again, while I don't think that's been completed to date, I would like to suggest turning it over to the chief information officer, just to speak a bit to what work has been done so far in that consolidation and what improvements may have already been realized. Thank you.