Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I happen to have it on authority that the Minister of Infrastructure is trying to arrange a briefing on MTS for committee and probably well deserved. It's certainly yes, the low water was certainly an impact, but that certainly isn't the only challenge that MTS has seen. They have struggled to find their footing since the end of NTCF for NTCL, so it is certainly not one that I want to minimize the ease by which there can be a path forward to sort of a more fiscally sustainable way. There's the forest fires also had an impact because, of course, the head office and main...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, back again beside me on my left is deputy minister Bill MacKay, and on my right deputy secretary to the financial management board Mr. Terence Courtoreille.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, there's again, this portion is really an obligation under the collective agreement. Other companies and businesses, corporations, you know, the mineral resource sector, a lot of those companies, a whole host of companies in town, other levels of government, in general also provide benefits to their employees. The degree to which they're getting benefits, the type of benefits, I'm not privy to. Whether those individuals might have partial payment through public medical travel and then offset by others, again there's going to be some complex differences. But...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So it is it is as a result of an increased overall number of days in the facilities. And so in that sense, the amount of use that is being seen that's driving up an anticipated extra expense here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, there is another agreement that provides for RCMP services in the Northwest Territories. The single biggest difference is the cost ratio is 70/30 in favour of GNWT paying 70 percent and Public Service Canada 30. Thank you.

Well, that's a dark note on which to end the evening, Mr. Chair. So we don't the supplementary reserve is a tool by which the budgeting process is meant to look at having some additional funding available for the emergent expenses. You know, more like the contracts that get signed off cycle and for which there may be a contribution component, you know, things that emerge, opportunities that come up where the department might need to, you know, expend funds beyond, you know, the deficit of the MTS for instance. It's really not meant as an emergency fund per se. So I'm conscious of the point...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm happy to commit and take that back to my colleague. The details of the agreement itself and whether or not it involves site C or the extent to which it does, I don't have that detail and I don't know that my team here does either. But I expect that the Minister responsible would probably be happy to follow up, and we can add that in our followup letters. Thank you.

So the total amount requested in this supplementary appropriation is $2.34 million for shortfalls here in terms of the staffing. It's yes, the projected that's the amount that we're requiring at this time. But the total anticipated cost for agency nurses this fiscal is $5.5 million. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this stage, there's $3 million that's coming from CIRNAC to support phase one of this work. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 5, Supplementary Appropriation Act, (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 20232024, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.