Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, immigration is a hot topic. I got an email whilst we were having that exchange earlier and, you know, the concerns are really -- are a live issue. In this email this individual says, quote: What makes this even more frustrating is the recent news that the NTNP program will reopen soon but with conditions that grant all applications equal opportunities regardless of how long they have lived in the North or how much they've contributed to the community.

Now, I know that the Minister has put a pause on those changes, but the perception out there is that it's...

Thank you. So for clarification, so the new rate application in front of the PUB will be a 15 percent increase? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the workers who are already here and have expiring permits, I think those should be the priority. It makes sense that they're the priority. Will the Minister commit to prioritizing applications based on when work permits are expiring? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So how much -- is there a calculation for -- this $12 million, like how much we're saving taxpayers from the general -- or consumers -- sorry, consumers, not taxpayers because we're not saving taxpayers. We're spending their money. But how -- and I'm okay with that if we're getting to a public good and, in this case, we're taking the pain off the utility bills. So how much are we saving the average household with this? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT has been sustained since time immemorial on the traditional economies of First Peoples who harvested the fur, fish, timber, and other natural resources that our land is rich in. But as our economy has grown, so has the needs of our labour market, and immigration has become an important part of our story. This is how the Northwest Territories has built a diverse community that it boasts today, because of this welcoming nature of our people that has encouraged migration from every corner of the world. From France to the Philippines, Lebanon to India, these people come to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, so I'm not going to say we shouldn't be spending money to lower the cost of living for Northerners, but it seems like this is kind of an endless cycle we're trapped in with the rate of -- the high cost of power in the Northwest Territories. So my first question is how much -- what's the total amount of money we provide for subsidies to consumers for their utility costs? Thank you.

Thank you. No, I appreciate the offer from the Minister but I don't -- I think the point is made. This is -- and it's not like -- I get it if it was like, well, we went to $40 million and we budgeted for $35 million, or $38 million or $50 million or even $60 million, but it's $188 million, and we're suppose -- we budgeted $35, right, so like this is -- I think -- you got to think of what the average reader who is looking at these documents sees and thinks about our financial process. And, again, when they hear we've got to belt tighten because we can't -- our expenditures are exceeding our...

Thank you. And this is the Supplementary Appropriation No. 2, the impact -- I mean, I have the numbers here. But the impact of Supplementary Appropriation No. 1 which we already proved was 160 -- a little over $160 million. So the net impact of all this -- and members of the public can find this on the back of the document but it's $188 million -- just over $188 million in the red. So is this -- why -- I mean, and these costs, some of them are certainly things you can't control due to fire and things like that but some -- again, some of these costs I think reflect -- could reflect something...

Thank you. I'm sorry, amused at the process but I'm happy to continue to answer Members' questions. Thank you for the question.

So I think that the intent here is if there's outstanding questions that Members want answered, that we should, again, put a pause on it. We are spending 12 million -- like, the proposal here is to spend $12 million of taxpayer money and if we're not completely satisfied that that's a prudent expenditure, we shouldn't approve it. So the idea here is to pause until we can gather all the information. And if even one Member has concerns, I think we ought to give that...

Thank you. Thank you -- oh, Mr. Speaker, thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, when can this House expect to see the cuts that are promised that will get us to $150 million in additional surplus that the policy puts up because we aren't seeing it with the estimates that have been coming out to date. I'm not talking specifically about what's in those estimates, but we have not seen those -- the range of cuts that have been promised, that people are concerned about, people want to know what's going on. So if we're still doing the strategy, when are we actually going to see these reductions? Thank...