Thank you. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I have some notes from NTPC owing to a different hat, but I don't have the full capital plan in front of me. I can assure Members, but also the public, that -- so the GNWT, for example, has a 20-year needs plan. NTPC also has a capital plan, and items like the surge tank were on the capital plan. So in terms of knowing the different needs, I think there's a fairly well-known set of needs. Bluefish and Snare, for example, also have breakdowns in the longer term plan about the need to replace those very aging pieces of infrastructure as well and to bring them back and to bring them up to a more modern capacity and then to potentially include the more modern facilities such as, you know, moving generators from the middle of the communities when they are being replaced and including increased battery systems to optimize the systems. All of these things, we do have some cost estimates and have them in the plans, but I don't have the -- you know, and I -- I don't want to say a number lest it make front page news. But I don't have all of that number sitting, waiting, and available. So projects get advanced in bits and pieces. Example, fuel tanks up in the High Arctic were part of a disaster mitigation effort. So there was funding available. They advanced those projects because there was a funding source available. But when there's not funding sources immediately available, it's a matter of prioritizing the items that appear to be the greatest risk and/or the greatest impact or need still generally owing to risk. And that's what advances. So that's where the Taltson, you know, upgrade got advanced. Weren't expecting to be doing the surge tank. Now we're doing the surge tank because of the need to do so quickly. I realize that's not completely answering in the sense, you know, is there's money set aside. Well, there's money set aside every year in the capital plan. And there's a limited amount that's available every year in the capital plan, and we try to advance what is -- again, meets the greatest need for all of the needs across the territory. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Can the Minister commit to ensuring that the power corporation has a comprehensive costed asset management plan that, you know, has realistic assessments of the condition of all of the assets, what should be the cost for regular maintenance to keep them in as best working condition as we can, and then what the costs will be to ensure that they're repaired in a timely manner and then ultimately replaced. I understand there's work ongoing, some new policies around modernizing the operations -- or management of the power corporation. I wonder if the Minister can explain whether some of those include new policies or practices around asset management and whether we can look forward to seeing a comprehensive costed asset management plan. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister of Finance.
Madam Chair, I actually think I might be back in front of committee tomorrow wearing my other hat with power corporation but also with power corporation officials with me. So if I might suggest -- I'd prefer to defer that question and then what I could do, Madam Chair, knowing that this is a public opportunity -- I do think it's very important the public know the circumstances we're in -- I can perhaps table a letter to follow up from -- as a further detail of some of this information just to -- it'll be more fulsome it comes through that discussion tomorrow. Thank you.
Thank you. Okay. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Finance, directorate, not previously authorized, $12 million. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Finance, total department, not previously authorized, $12 million. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Committee, we will now consider the Department of Health and Social Services on page 7.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Health and Social Services, administrative and support services, not previously authorized, $263,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Health and Social Services, health and social programs, not previously authorized, $427,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Health and Social Services, supplementary health benefits, not previously authorized. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I think it's a very quick clarification question. This would be around the national strategy for drugs for rare diseases initiative with Canada. It's fully offset by Canada. My question to the Minister is whether or not this funding will help pay for folks who might have been fully addressed by our previous extended health care benefits on the schedule of specified disease list. If she has that amount of detail, I'd love to know. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. A portion of this funding does support the budget that's under the extended health benefits, but exactly the impacts of that I would have to come back to the Member on that. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Nothing further.
Okay. Thank you. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Health and Social Services, supplementary health benefits, not previously authorized, $2,813,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Health and Social Services, total department, not previously authorized, $3,503,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Committee, we will now consider the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment on page 8.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, economic diversification and business support, not previously authorized, $2,529,000. Member for Frame Lake.
There you go, thank you, Madam Chair. I just quickly wanted to ask, to put it simply, why we're operating the Hay River Fish Plant, the newly opened fish plant, with a supplementary estimate. That's my first question.
Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, the fish plant is now fully operational and they are continuing to see increases in catch and increases in the number of fishers. That is the good news; however, finding someone or some entity that has the capacity and skills to fully operate the plant did prove a little more challenging than what was perhaps anticipated in the Great Slave Lake fish revitalization strategy back in 2017, thereabouts, when this plant was first being conceived. So with that, what they have done as a department, as government, is entered into an agreement with the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation to operate the plant, including with it a period of transition that was meant to help try to train up some local capacity and find someone who'd be in a position to take over the plant or, in the absence of that, to be in a position to find another operator outside of the FFMC over time. That hasn't happened yet. And so for the moment, as it's coming fully to its capacity, it does still run at a bit of a deficit, and this is to support the ongoing operation and the fishers who supply it. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess you could call $2.5 million a bit of a deficit.
I guess the next question I would ask is the status of the FFMC, the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation, I mean, my understanding is NWT is effectively the last participant in this beast, and I'm curious whether it makes sense to look into other options we might have for marketing, selling our excellent quality fish from the NWT, which I think is quite a higher standard than most other places and I think it could really stand to be separated from other stock. And so I'm curious if we've made any progress on kind of rebranding and redoing the way that we're marketing fish to kind of sell this as a premium product and hopefully help boost revenues and get us out of this deficit operating position. Thanks.
Thank you. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And, Madam Chair, first, just one small piece of good news. It's not fully -- the $2.479 million is offset. There are some revenues that we are anticipating coming back in, so of $1.276 million, so it's not -- it's only partially -- there is still a deficit. Now, that said, the bigger question and the longer term question is to get out of a situation where we are having to continue this. I will note, Madam Chair, that a big part of that is ensuring that we are getting CFIA certified. That would allow direct marketing and direct then sales of the product that we have in the North to markets potentially worldwide. Right now, without that certification, we are left in the FFMC all on our own, as the Member has noted. But it's my understanding that the target for that is by November. And then once that certification attaches to the Northwest Territories, to the plant, then, again, that does open up the possibility of direct marketing and potentially much higher revenue for the sales. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thank you, Madam Chair. That's certainly good news. I think that's it for me for questions on this one. Thanks.
Thank you. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, economic diversification and business support, not previously authorized, $2,529,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, minerals and petroleum resources, not previously authorized, $342,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, total department, not previously authorized, $2,871,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Committee, we will now consider the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs on page 9.
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2025-2026, Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, emergency management, not previously authorized, $5,465,000. Does the committee agree?
Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. My question is, so this item says that the costs may be offset under the Government of Canada's disaster financial assistance arrangement program. Can the Minister explain what is meant by may and what assurances we have or don't have that this money is going to be offset by the federal government? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is the entity in the Northwest Territories that can apply to the disaster financial assistance through the federal government, and there are expenses that are covered. Roughly, we find, it comes in at around 90 percent of eligible expenses, which is what is being accounted for here, but it is a fairly rigorous audit process in order to be compliant with the policy, and that comes with a fair bit of paperwork on the particular claims that MACA is putting forward. They would put those claims forward on behalf, for example, of municipal governments and as well as any losses experienced within communities or to structures, for instance. But then there has to be the auditing. So when we say may, is it because until that entirely works its course through the federal system, we don't have the final on exactly which expenses get fully reimbursed. So, again, roughly 90 percent, and we won't necessarily know for some time. My recollection of the 2014 wildfires is that the money for that was still coming in when I started in 2018, 2019, and 2020. So it takes some time sometimes to fully see the reimbursement of the costs. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.
That's fine. Thank you for that explanation.
Supplementary estimates, operations -- oh, Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Madam Chair. My question is to the overall not previously authorized total for 5.465. If we were to do a wholistic review on each year's fire costs, we would look at the initial, as we discussed earlier on the $39 million, and apply this to that, that'll give us our total fire costs for the summer of 2025, for example. Can I get clarification on total impact and costs for the fire season? Mahsi.
Thank you. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. That's correct. So that actually -- and I'm glad the Member mentioned it because there are -- it is worth noting the $3.533 million here do relate to this year's wildfire season. They are the portion of wildfire response that arrives when there's an emergency evacuation which would fall under the responsibility of MACA's emergency response team rather than the wildfire response. And so correct, that to get a full projection or a full picture of the costs for the wildfire, for any given wildfire season involved, both for the base budget for both ECE -- or for MACA as well as for ECC as well as it may relate to the work that they do but particularly for ECC in this regards, then adding any supps on any given year once we have a sense of those actuals. So at this point in time, looking at the base and the present supps, we would say we're probably in and around somewhere between 65 to 70 million but that is preliminary math. I want to emphasize in the saying that there's -- it is only October, and there may well still be some costs coming in from the summer but, again, it's a rough estimate, say, between 65 and 70 million, Madam Chair.
