Thank you, Mr. Chair. My apologies, I'm not quite sure I understand what the Minister is telling us there. So this item is not actually being reduced, it's just showing as reduced in the budget? Or can you better explain what's meant by the answer.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, so the way that it shows in the budget is reduction because the Northern Wellness Agreement hadn't been signed, hadn't been done, finalized by the time the process to have the budget and so it -- as it looks like it's reduced, there is -- there is no changes in positions or anything like that because of the agreement came after, the new agreement.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay, so to be clear, no reduction in service there.
Similarly, population and public health services, there's a $1.2 million cut. Is there a service cut associated with that? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I will pass that on to the ADM for the detail.
Thank you. I'll go to the ADM.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's similar reasoning for that reduction. It's actually made up of two agreements, that reduction. One is health system investments where there's a sunset of time limited funding for one-time projects associated with sexual health as well as cultural safety and antiracism. And then the second one is there is an allocation in that budget that is funded through the Northern Wellness Agreement as well, and once that agreement gets renegotiated, which is currently in process, that will fix that gap there again. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The next item is just in the top line of the second paragraph there on page 205, compensation and benefits is reducing by about $2 million. Is this, again, a service level cut of any sort, or can the department help us understand what that -- what's associated with that funding decrease. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
For that level of detail, I'll go to the ADM if it's okay.
Thank you. I'll go to the ADM.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No service cuts. The line items below, the expenditure category there are just showing the types of costs that are being reduced from areas above. And so the Northern Wellness Agreement is the same answer. The Northern Wellness Agreement was actually funding compensation and benefits for positions which, when the agreement gets renegotiated, will be returned to the budget. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for all those answers, explaining those various adjustments in there.
The next question is can the Minister explain what progress has been made in investigating the feasibility of adding an Office of the Practitioner Experience?
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we brought that back to the -- I believe the committee, or we responded; I can't recall. When we had the conversation with NTHSSA, I know that we are working on our new people strategy and so that we were looking at incorporating ways to work with all of our staff within the NTHSSA through that people strategy. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Those are all the questions I have from this section. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I'm curious about the funding to health and social services authorities, $370 million. Can the Minister clarify just how this whole budgeting process works for the authorities? Because on the floor of the House, we heard that the budget comes after the mains and I'm still a bit befuddled by this because we do have an information item later that we'll get into that has some numbers there, but we also have this new piece of information that the Minister has not actually received the working budget and, I mean, this is a much longer conversation that gets into how we fund the health authorities through supplementary appropriations that get higher and higher every year. So can the minister kind of straighten out this budgeting question. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am going to give that to the ADM to try and explain how that works, and see if that helps. Thanks.
Thank you. I'll go to the ADM.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the process has been as such for at least 20 plus years of my time, and so this document here is how the department intends to spend its money, and it intends to spend its money by giving some of that money to the health authorities for them to deliver services. In doing that, we provide the health authorities with a target for which, you know, the money that we're planning to give them and what we want to give them the money for, then we request that they develop a budget, a detailed budget, that they submit to us by February 15th of every year. We do a review process of that budget at the same time as we're reviewing the budget and the budget is getting reviewed here in the House for the main estimates so that by the time the main estimates gets approved, which gives us permission to give the funding to the authorities, we also can then tie the two together and we have authority's detailed budget reconciled with the funding that we're planning to give them so we have the detail of how the actual money is getting spent. So hopefully that clears it up. But the idea is that the authority budgets that gets submitted are approved shortly after the main estimates are approved, both of which need to occur before April 1st of the year to comply with the Financial Administration Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That does make sense. Thank you. So the detail, though, that we are -- again, I know I'm jumping ahead but it's just an information item, but, like, the detail we have in that information item, is that your estimates, or is it -- like, what -- sorry, what -- where are we getting these numbers from? Is it from last year's actuals, or is it your estimates based on what you're giving to the authorities based on what you believe there needs to be? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
I'm going to give that to the ADM so I don't bungle that all up and confuse everybody.
Okay, I'll go to the ADM.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. They are estimates, but it's related to the work that we've done with the authorities over the year in advance which feeds into the forced growth, like any funding requests, any supplementary funding requests, those are all factored into the number that we determine is needed to give to the authority to address the areas that have been identified in the information item. So it's kind of an evolving process, but it's meant to be reflective of what the authorities need to deliver the services that they're being asked to deliver. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So do you reconcile -- sorry, to the Minister. Does the Minister reconcile that -- like, the line items in the information item to the actual budget that will be presented to the Minister by the authorities before February 15th? So, like, we see what's here in this book. When they get the other document, do they -- when is that reconciliation? Is it after this is approved, or does that all happen before April 1st? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, that is what exactly is going to be happening right now between the department and NTHSSA. They go back and forth and reconcile where -- like, you'll see, like if you look at health and social programs, so the allocation for the $370 million to go for health and social programs, they will have a detail between the department finance and the NTHSSA's finance to reconcile where they're spending those dollars within this department. And so when you go through the future sections that there's every section that they have, they have details and that comes to us, and then I approve it to move forward as long as it's within all of the things that we've approved through sups that carry on into the next year and the budget that -- whatever the budget that is approved. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. And it all makes sense, the public accounts at the end, the end of the year, so I'm not worried about, like, the money not being accounted for. It's more if we are -- I guess if, let's say, we negotiate for a hundred more nurses or something like that, which is a large number, but if we say you're going to give us that and it's a billion dollars, we're having very well compensated nurses; where would you put that? Like, how would we know as MLAs that that money that we are voting for you is going to go to the authority and being spent in that way? Just because we don't have that level of detail. Is it through a specific contribution like on the page here, or would it be just grant funding that -- authorities funding and you work with them to figure out how to spend it to meet that commitment? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm going to, if I may, pass that on to the ADM. She can explain that, how that works.
Thank you. I'll go to the ADM.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And so that process that the Minister spoke about, about budget review and approval, that is exactly the process where if we had funding for a hundred new nurses and we had it in the budget when we were -- when we'd be looking at the authority's budget, we'd be looking for have they allocated the money to those hundred positions, and that's part of -- that influences the recommendation for approval.
The other thing that I think is important for us, and I missed mentioning it earlier when I was speaking about the process, is once we get a recommendation to the Minister on approving the budget and she approves the budget, we then enter into a contribution agreement with each authority that lays out specifically reminding that this is the money that you're being given, this is what the money is for, these are your reporting requirements, please submit your variance reports by this date, please submit your audited financial statements by this date, please do other performance indicators by this date. It's a very comprehensive document that kind of lays out what's required of them in the year ahead. And through that variance reporting is where we then keep an eye on is the money being spent, you know, as it was directed to be spent. And it's an ongoing iterative process that then informs the next budget development the next year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. So just for absolute certainly, the Minister does approve all spending at NTHSSA or any other authority at the end of the day? Thank you. It is the Minister who gets final approval of those budgets? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, once they -- once the department has done all of the checks and balances and then I meet with them and it falls within line with whatever that we have approved through our process, then -- and once I get the recommendation that everything has been checked and balanced, and then I approve it, and then the finance team does do the monitoring of that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. Is this number inclusive, then, of the public administrator's salary and compensation? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
