Thank you, committee. Total department, not previously authorized, $3,381,000. Are there any questions?
Seeing none, Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 1, 2025-2026. Department of Finance, capital investments expenditures, total department, not previously authorized, $3,381,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will now consider the Department of Health and Social Services on page number 12. Administrative and support services, not previously authorized, $4,761,000. Are there any questions? Okay, to the Member of Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I certainly wouldn't dispute the need for health information system improvements and charting tools and -- can the Minister explain why these were not completed in 2024-2025 when they were budgeted for and why they've had to be bumped forward another year? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the Member. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, let me start, if I might, with the health information systems charting tool. There's a couple of items all listed here so just so I'm talking about the right item. But this is the electronic health record project. This is a multi-year project. It is underway; I can say that much. But there was -- let me just see if I can -- sorry, Mr. Chair. There's been some changes to the project timeline, and specifically, here we do have -- sorry, Mr. Chair. I just want to make sure I'm on the right project.
Let me see if the deputy minister has it, the right one in front of him, Mr. Chair. If I could send it to him, please, to the deputy minister, please.
Thank you, Minister. Deputy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So this project, as the Minister noted, involves a number of steps and initiatives that are interlinked, and all of them start with the -- in 2023-2024, when the diagnostic imaging replacement was completed. So once that was done, they were able to move on to the next portion of the project so that was -- so that kind of delayed everything else, so that's why this amount has been carried over for all of these projects, so it's delayed the projects that are integrated. Thank you.
Thank you, deputy minister McKay. To the Member, Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Does the Minister know whether these projects can actually be completed in the coming year, or do we have estimate times for when each of these three projects will actually be completed? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I can, at least, share what the revised timelines are anticipated to be at this time. So right now, there's -- the charting tool is expected to be underway for procurement in this current fiscal year with implementation expected then the year after. As we've said, there are a number of components here that are making it a bit difficult to say exactly the specific dates of one or the other, as they are interrelated. But laboratory information system upgrade, that work is underway. It was begun, and it is proceeding we're expecting this fiscal year, 2025-2026. Similarly, sharing of information to and from Alberta, that too has already had its basic planning as being -- is already underway as of last fiscal year and continuing this -- the current year, although I don't have an update as to what the latest status or expectation would be on an implementation date. Health information -- sorry, health information data repository, that too entered its planning phase in 2024-2025 but they are expecting to begin at least initial implementation of a project this current fiscal. Last but not least, Mr. Chair, integration engine platform replacement, that too got underway in terms of its planning last fiscal, and we are expecting to be in procurement for that replacement this fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. To the Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I didn't hear anything in that list about professional licensing modernization. I may be looking at a different list than you, but do you have an estimate for when that professional licensing modernization will be complete? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just bear with me for one moment, Mr. Chair. This project has now been underway since 2022-2023 and the solution, as it does sometimes prove to be the case with a number of different IT projects, what was initially expected to be the final solution has proven to, in fact, be more difficult in terms of it not aligning to the needs of this -- of the office. So at this time, Mr. Chair, yeah, so that did delay the project that we didn't have -- it wasn't -- the suitability of the originally anticipated solution. So instead, what we are looking to do is it's called the one-touch solution so it's -- that is now being moved in. Yeah, Mr. Chair, as sort of the dates here, I don't have a date in front of me, unfortunately. But I could certainly get back to the Member with an anticipated date. Thank you.
Member of Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't have further questions at this time, but it does sort of concern me that these big multi-year health information system type projects, which are so critical and foundational to our system, if we're -- if we're sort of fumbling or choosing the wrong system and then it takes us years to sort of pivot and find a different one, I guess I'm concerned about the process internally for ensuring that we have the right choice or the right direction to begin with so we don't waste a number of years pursuing the wrong types of solutions, but I will follow up on that through other channels. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the Member. Moving on to the Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In a strange turn of events, Yellowknife North has poached my questions. Thank you.
Thank you to the Member. Any further questions?
Seeing none, Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 1, 2025-2026. Department of Health and Social Services, capital investments expenditures, administrative and support services, not previously authorized, $4,761,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Health and Social Services, health and social programs, not previously authorized, $18,589,000. Are there any questions?
Seeing none, Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 1, 2025-2026. Department of Health and Social Services, capital investments expenditures, health and social programs, not previously authorized, $18,589,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Long term and continuing care services, not previously authorized, $8,441,000. Are there any questions? To the Member of Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On this one, I'm wondering if, in particular, for those four, long term -- or no, there's three, long-term care facilities there. How many times have the funding for these projects lapsed or, you know, been pushed forward to the next year? Is this the first year that this particular funding for those three facilities is being pushed forward, or how many years have we seen this happen? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member of Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I have these projects right now broken down one by one, so, for instance, by Inuvik, by Hay River, etcetera, so I can't give a simple number. I can say these projects have -- if I'm not mistaken, all four of them been subject to delay over more than just the one fiscal year. I can recall back in just around the times of COVID, there was a change because the estimates that were done pre-COVID in terms of bed requirements were updated through and then immediately towards the end of when the COVID-19 pandemic was subsiding. That led to some changes in planning because of the changes of bed counts, if I'm not mistaken, have been updated yet again. And so here we are still trying to get a handle on what size of facility is needed as there continues to be changes in term of the kind of what the best option is to ensure that people are being given the best tools to age in place and not necessarily be in a facility. So I'd be happy to collate the information about how many times they've been moved over. I just don't -- I don't have broken down by project in front of me right now. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. To the Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't necessarily need an exact number but I guess my concern is that if these projects are continually being sort of passed along to the next year, next year, and we're tying up around $7 million in projects that are continually being bumped forward, bumped forward, is there sort of a limit on how many times we can just keep this money and bumping it forward without deciding that, okay, you know, this money's been tied up long enough, it needs to just fall off the budget and then start again when we do decide that this project is actually underway or making progress? Is there any policy or limits on how long we continue to, yeah, keep money tied up in projects that don't seem to be moving forward? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the Member. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, Mr. Chair, there absolutely is a limit. It is -- it's whether or not a project's request for carryover complies with the financial administration manual, and so that is specifically whether or not there's already a contractual obligation in place or if a department can demonstrate that there's been substantial progress on a project. And so, you know, if a project is slowly moving along, it will, in theory, meet that test -- I say in theory because it is still subject to approval by the financial management board. So all projects where departments are seeking carryovers do come individually to the financial management board and do need to be approved. So, again, obviously if they're compliant with the financial administration manual, that is sort of step one. But it doesn't necessarily change too the fact that there are known needs for long-term care facilities but wanting to ensure that when we get to the place of breaking ground and building facilities that are going to be into the tens of millions of dollars, wanting to make sure that they are obviously at the appropriate size, but I certainly take the point that we don't -- and I don't disagree that we don't want to tie up funds where they are otherwise needed clearly in the health care sector. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. To the Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No further questions on that.
Thank you, to the Member of Yellowknife North. Any further questions?
Seeing none, Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 1, 2025-2026. Department of Health and Social Services, capital investments expenditures, long term and continuing care services, not previously authorized, $8,441,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Total department, not previously authorized, $31,791,000. Are there any questions?
Seeing none, Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 1, 2025-2026. Department of Health and Social Services, capital investments expenditures, total department, not previously authorized, $31,791,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee.
We will now consider the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment on page number 14.
Infrastructure expenditures, economic diversification and business support, not previously authorized, $689,000. Are there any questions? To the Member of Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I'll try to keep these brief. But is this the final amount, then, for the Hay River fish plant? Does this signal that it will be complete, or should we expect further amounts coming forward in the future for the completion of the Hay River fish plant? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the project is in the implementation phase which is hopefully a positive word. The plant has been substantially completed already. It is expected to be fully commissioned in this current summer. There was some modification required for some of the ice harvesting related systems and that is where the carryover, I believe, originates, and that system had to be modified and then reconstructed, so that is where the carryover came with this. The plant is otherwise, as I said, operational, and I -- it would be hopeful would be fully implemented and therefore not see any further delays or need for any further carryover on the project. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. To the Member of Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's all.
Thank you to the Member. Any further questions?
Seeing none, Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 1, 2025-2026. Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, capital investments expenditures, economic diversification and business support, not previously authorized, $689,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Infrastructure expenditures, minerals and petroleum resources, not previously authorized, $714,000. Are there any questions? To the Member of Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know that the MARS, or the mineral administration registry system, is also important to lots of people, so I would be remiss in not asking are we expecting this project to be complete, then, in the coming year, or how far along are we on this project? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, Mr. Chair, this will not be fully complete in the coming fiscal year. Where we're at at this point is that there -- the MIT system is expected to be fully replaced over the course of this fiscal year, and then MARS as a whole, best guess here that I can give, Mr. Chair, with fair limited -- with the sort of limited notes that I would have for the purposes of this supplementary appropriation is that will happen in the following fiscal year, so in roughly a year and a half from now, and then over the course of that fiscal year, so 2026-2027, some of the timing issues there is that we are trying to design and develop an IT system that can fully accommodate the final details of the Mineral Resource Act regulations, and, of course, the Mineral Resource Act regulations are not themselves fully complete, as that is a process that is going through the intergovernmental protocol with the IGCS. So trying to have that project move as quickly as possible, again, while trying to align it with the timing of a project that is also not done is proving to be a bit challenging, but, again, based on what I'm -- I understand to be the stage of the regs, and the -- and then is that MARS itself can then be good to move in by the following fiscal year, and I think that would mean that we would have final implementation of the tools so that people could basically go on and actually do all of the things, including map staking, which people are very excited about, would be by the next fiscal -- the following fiscal year thereafter. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
