Caroline Wawzonek

Mr. Speaker, there's not a full-time dedicated position per se but, Mr. Speaker, the interagency engagement between the Premier's office and the federal government, that is a large part of the core work that happens at executive and Indigenous affairs, certainly on the executive side, so if you're in that department, I'm quite confident in saying, and believe I'm well placed to say so with the information I do have, that this is not a concern to the department, that they're confident that they are able to actively engage, and I do happen to know from the role that I'm in, Mr. Speaker, having...

With respect to -- I did not have the opportunity to attend this briefing, Mr. Chair, so I don't know what may or may not have been said. But as far as reporting, Mr. Chair, maybe I'll turn that to the deputy minister to see if he can give that background, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think we'll be able to provide that level of detail. I mean, I -- a little bit hesitant in that it's fairly specific numbers that were being proposed. But, again, we do track the 30-day mark. We do track how far behind we are on a 30-day mark of standard to provide refunds. And, yes, I believe we can break down what is owed individually, and I suppose -- let me leave it at that, Mr. Chair, and we'll see where we get. I also don't want to run into a situation where the breakdown results in it being identifiable if it's too particular and then we're identifying people who...

If I could direct it over to director of shared corporate services, Mr. Chair, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So with respect to the Department of Finance, Mr. Chair, we are increasing positions in the Beaufort Delta and in the Sahtu to help support the FESS, or Financial and Employee Shared Services. And, you know, again, with respect to the broader GNWT, Mr. Chair, I mean, there's -- that's not an item that necessarily is under the priorities of the Assembly other than obviously wanting to, of course, ensure broadly the opportunity for ongoing economic development and -- but, yes, so I don't have a new priority or a new mandate item that is relating to that.

From the perspective...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The GNWT only has a portion of the Canol Trail, actually in fact I think a fairly small portion of the Canol Trail. The majority is still sitting with the federal government. And the last time I was updated on this there was some ongoing conversations with the federal government seeking to have them bring their portions up to a level so that this could, frankly, be an area that may well have a future tourism opportunity. But at this point, the majority of the trail is still federal responsibility. We have our smaller, much smaller portion of it.

I would say, Mr. Chair...

Mr. Speaker, yes, that is the expectation, is that an Indigenous person gets the advantage, an Indigenous person -- Indigenous to one of the member groups of the Northwest Territories does have -- would -- expected to have an advantage. And, Mr. Speaker, I take the comment earlier, I should acknowledge it with respect to some of the smaller communities we should be considering, and I'm happy to go back to the department and ensure, that, indeed, they -- students are aware of this program. The last plug I'll make is we also have the remote work policy. So, again, quite a lot of change, quite a...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to say yes, but I just want to be clear that I -- to my understanding, there's not -- you know, in the decision papers, templates, which are in the financial administration manual, and actually are online, there wouldn't necessarily be a line item right now that says GRI compliant or GRI -- you know, has proceeded through GRI. I'm certainly happy to consider looking at that. So again, if there's benefit, that's a decision for more than just me sitting here right now. But if that's something that departments find helpful, if the analysts find helpful, yes, again, I...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we do, I believe, try to do some monitoring of that, and I'm not sure if I have that in front of me. I'll see if the deputy minister or the director might, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I believe we certainly could make -- add a page to the report that comes out detailing the initiatives and different programs that are being spent in here. I anticipate that should be not a problem. Thank you.