Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. For the details on that position, I will just get the deputy minister to answer that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, and thanks for the question. So MACA is the only department in government that doesn't have a specific division for finance basically, finance administration. And what we've decided to do is to, you know, provide more financial oversight and to amalgamate some of the other functions that happened within the department. So as an example, we have lotteries, the PASR fund, the physical activity and sport and recreation fund, and we've seen some challenges with that in the past year as in previous briefings and -- that's come up. And we're going to move the lotteries funding under finance because it's largely a finance function instead of reporting to a director of sport and recreation, just so that there's more financial oversight to that fund.
We also have about $250 million of federal funding that's being managed out of the community operations, so we're taking some of that work and pushing it into the finance as well, again so that you have more oversight.
And as I mentioned earlier, as well, we have a significant amount of disaster recovery work underway and continued into the future possibly, and we want to make sure that we have more financial oversight over those type of activities as well. And we felt that we needed more leadership on the finances in the department which is one of the main reasons why we're setting up this new division. And just to clarify, there's only one new position being added, which is funded from within. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So my understanding is that there was a community financial services group. Can the Minister clarify whether that is now going to be within this new finance and administration division and if it's remaining separate, what's the justification of having two different sort of financial oversight divisions? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So that part of the department or that division is -- it's not going to be combined yet but -- so that is, what that involves is supporting the community governments with their financial work that they do in the communities and supporting their budget work and, you know, support for the communities. The other one is essentially a role for the Department of Finance essentially to work with their government finances. Again, like the deputy minister said, we're the only department that doesn't have that role within the government to work with our financial part -- or finance part of the Department of MACA, considering all the funds that we're dealing with and the grants and contributions and federal funds that we're working with. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do hope that there's someone sort of analyzing and looking into ways to make it most efficient within the department and make sure there's no duplication. That's the last thing we need at this point.
But, finally, I am noticing that overall for the department, in terms of expenditures and the categories that under the category of travel, there's been a somewhat significant increase in the travel budget from last year's main estimates to this year. We're looking at about a 21 percent increase. So what is the reason for requesting this kind of increase in the travel budget? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Sorry, if the --
-- That's on page 335, the overall summary.
Okay, I will go to the Minister.
Sorry, I am just trying to get to that.
Okay. Yeah, did you find it? Okay, so I will go back to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. Just going back there.
It's all related to disaster assistance for training and travel related to that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In your estimates, there is $300,000 identified to develop a legislative initiative to broaden regulated gaming activities in the NWT but no positions created. So my question to the Minister is what this funding is to be used for and what is unique about this work that needs the funding but no position. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So this is a specialized kind of field that nobody in the Government of the Northwest Territories is able to do, understanding gaming legislation and how to implement it and so on. So the funds are essentially to find a contractor to start the process and whatever else that needs to go along with starting this process of governing online gambling within the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you to the Minister for clarifying.
I note, too, in your business plan that one of the legislative initiatives listed is the Senior Citizens and Disabilities Person Property Tax Relief Act. There is a target for 2026-2027. Could the Minister clarify if that target is for an LP or to introduce the bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
It's for LP, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And considering the target in the later part of the fiscal year, is it, then, expected to be an LP before the end of this Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. That's the goal, yes, it's -- yeah. Thank you.
Thank you. To the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, I appreciate that clarity and that update. I've been hearing a lot of Members talk about relief for seniors, so thank you. Nothing further at this time.
Thank you. Next on my list I have is the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to build on the question asked by my colleague about the initiative to broaden regulated gaming activities in the NWT. Does the Minister have an idea of what kind of revenues we might be able to expect from doing something like that? Has the Minister -- or has the department done any preliminary work to understand what we might get out of doing this exercise, or am I getting a bit ahead of myself and that is indeed what the exercise is for? Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you. If I said any amount, I'd probably be taking a gamble on that but I don't want to say that. Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's all part of this work, is we want to make sure that we're able to capture the rough estimates on what could -- the revenues that could potentially be brought in. And from what we've heard through meeting with industry is there's that potential to have quite a bit of money in there in revenues, which I would hope and -- you know, I would like to see a lot of this money come back to the territories and be used for, you know, things related to, like, youth and sports and stuff, like, we use our Western Lottery stuff for. But the whole point of this money is exactly that, to research, to find out, and do engagement with Indigenous governments and the community and find out potential revenues. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. Just so you know, the House always wins. I am going to go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Mr. Chair, I don't know how to -- I am certainly not going to start throwing my own dad jokes and puns on the table.
Yeah, I just say in response to that, no, I do appreciate the department doing the background work. Certainly, we've seen lotteries funding declining over the years and, you know, gambling's changing, and so maybe this is a part of that and insofar as it funds so much of our sports activity, it would be nice to see us be able to stabilize our -- oh, it's on the tip of my tongue. But our -- it's on the next page. The fund that funds the sports. Sorry, Mr. Chair. But thank you. That's it for me for questions on this item. Thanks.
Okay, thank you to the Member. I am going to go to the Member from the Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I agree with one of my colleagues who said we need to avoid any duplication in positions. That new director position they talked about, is that a remote position or is that in Yellowknife? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. This position is here in Yellowknife. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Deh Cho.
So it's a two-year position. Is it going to be canceled after two years; the person's got to look for another job, and. It just seems like it's creating insecurity for a person that has to work for two years and then is there going to be a -- like, how is that going to work for the individual coming into that director position, and then it's going to get phased out? That person's got to look for another job, or is -- what's going to happen with that? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. Maybe I will ask the director to answer this question. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the director.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The intent is to create a unit for a project specific, which is to review and update the Emergency Management Act. That has been identified as a priority. The intent is we'd stand up a team on a temporary basis to do that, and then when the project has reached -- moves into the legislation phase, then we would stand down the team. People will be hired on a term basis. And we haven't determined what the actual positions will be yet. We've just asked for three positions and the funding to do that for the next three years. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from the Deh Cho.
Thank you. Was there thought given to pulling resources from inside the department? Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
