Supplementary Estimates, (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Infrastructure, operations expenditures, total department not previously authorized, $12 million. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Committee, we will now consider the Department of Education, Culture and Employment on page 6.
Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Education, Culture and Employment, capital investment expenditures, language and culture, not previously authorized, $2 million. Does the committee agree.
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Education, Culture and Employment, capital investment expenditures, total department not previously authorized, $2 million. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Committee, we will now consider the Department of Environment and Climate Change on page 7. Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026. Department of Environment and Climate Change, capital investment expenditures, corporate management, not previously authorized $850,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Environment and Climate Change, capital expenditures, total department not previously authorized, negative $850,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Committee, we will now consider the Department of Finance on page 8. Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026. Department of Finance, capital investment expenditures, Office of the Chief Information Officer, not previously authorized, negative $273,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026. Department of Finance, capital investment expenditures, total department not previously authorized, negative $273,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Committee, we will now consider the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment on page 9.
Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026. Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, capital investment expenditures, minerals and petroleum resources, not previously authorized, $273,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026. Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, capital investment expenditures, total department not previously authorized, $273,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Committee, we will now consider the Department of Infrastructure on page 10.
Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026. Department of Infrastructure, capital investment expenditures, asset management, not previously authorized, $11,400,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026. Department of Infrastructure, capital investments, energy and strategic initiatives, not previously authorized, negative $12 million. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026. Department of Infrastructure, capital investment expenditures, total department not previously authorized, negative $600,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Members, there's a schedule on page 11 that details the impact on capital estimates. The schedule is not a voteable item and is included as information only. Are there any questions on this schedule?
Seeing no further questions, as this is not a voteable item, we will continue on.
Committee, do you agree that you have concluded consideration of Tabled Document 387-20(1), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026?
Agreed.
Member for Boot Lake.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee defer further consideration of Tabled Document 387-20(1), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, at this time. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried. Consideration of Tabled Document 387-20(1), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, is deferred.
---Carried
Thank you, Minister, and thank you to the witnesses for appearing before us.
Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 388-20(1), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026. Does the Minister of Finance wish to bring witnesses forward?
Yes, Madam Chair.
Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Would the Sergeant-at-Arms please escort the witnesses into the chamber.
Thank you. Would the Minister please introduce her witnesses.
Thank you, Madam Chair. On my left, deputy minister of finance, Bill MacKay. And on my right, deputy secretariat to the Financial Management Board Mandi Bolstad.
Committee has agreed to forego opening comments and general comments. Does the committee agree to proceed to the detail contained in the tabled document?
Agreed.
Committee, we will begin on page 3 with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026. Department of Education, Culture and Employment, not previously authorized, $15,697,000. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So regarding the $14 million that's being allocated to address gaps relating to educational support assistants, I understand that this is an attempt to fill some of the gaps left by the removal of Jordan's Principal funding. Can the Minister confirm how much of that $14 million has already been spent up to now? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, there have been a number of requests received, but my understanding is that they're not necessarily fully allocated yet. And so I don't have a final number in terms of the allocation. There is still some funding available even with the applications that have been received, but a good portion of it has already been applied for. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Member for Yellowknife North, do have you a follow-up?
Thank you, Madam Chair. So does the Minister have a sense of what is the timeline for when education bodies that have applied for this funding, when those applications will be processed and how soon they would get an answer and actually get money in the door to be able to hire these educational support assistants? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, there's no delay in terms of receiving or processing per se. I understand that one element of the request is that there be some amount contributed from school boards, those that have surplus funding available to them within their own budgets and that there's some discussion happening with at least some of the school boards in this regard. So, again, until that discussion is concluded, that's the state of some of this. Others, I think, Madam Chair, my understanding is that the funding should be already processed and already flowing, and then there's some that just in terms of making sure that the allocation of funds under this program can apply to all of the different types of programs that may be affected by Jordan's Principle, which that one may be resting with us but I believe that that will be dealt with this week. So a few different reasons for why different school boards may not have received their funding yet. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And so the line item specifically says gaps relating to educational support assistants. Would this funding also -- could it be applied to not just EA's, educational assistants, but also other supports needed by education bodies, for example speech-language pathologists, other sort of therapeutic supports? Can the Minister clarify what actually is eligible under this $14 million of funding? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister of Finance.
