Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, thrilled again to talk about biomass. This is an opportunity where, you know, communities can come forward. There is there certainly is opportunity, and I would certainly want to extend the opportunity to speak further to communities, whether it's on small scale projects, which there is funding for under the community grants programs, funding under feasibility studies. There may be opportunities through, you know, and I'd certainly like to be able to perhaps resend some information, that I saw go out at the end of the 19th Assembly under the Minister of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, having a revolving fund where you take a specific amount of money and put that aside, typically it's used for Crown corporations, for example for the airport where there's money in and going in and going out. It allows an entity to operate and conduct its operations with that revolving fund. Having it where there's a revenue source coming in and we take that percentage out, one of the concerns is that you actually wind up saying, all right, here's the $10 million that we're going to use for this initiative. And I think the Member's statement laid out quite...

Mr. Speaker, I'm also the Minister responsible for the public service and the work that we do as a government can't happen without that public service. So that is I hope not a rumor that's out amongst the public service that that's where we're going to be starting to find a way for better and more responsible government. Being a responsible government, having responsible fiscal policies, does not necessarily require us to go out and get rid of those people who deliver our programs and services. It does mean looking at how we do things, looks at the duplication of services, at government...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ensuring that there is a budget that is compliant with the Fiscal Responsibility Policy has always been an important feature for myself, and I expect will continue to be so under this administration. And I do reference the Fiscal Responsibility Policy because that's the document that helps guide our assurance that we're providing the budget that is sustainable.

As far as balancing the budget, having debt in and of itself for a government of our size, Mr. Speaker, is not the challenge. The challenge, though, is ensuring that in our expenditures that we don't...

Mr. Speaker, later today I will table the Interim Estimates, Operations Expenditures, 20242025 which presents an interim budget for the Government of the Northwest Territories. This interim budget will provide funding for programs and services over the first quarter of the upcoming fiscal year, giving the 20th Legislative Assembly appropriate time to complete its transition and to set its priorities. Mr. Speaker, it will come as no surprise that flooding, drought, wildfire events, and the global COVID19 pandemic have all negatively impacted the government's financial capacity. Despite these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our residents were already receiving a much higher rebate than what many residents in other parts of the country were. What we did in our system was, and what we understood would not have been offered had we come under the federal modeling, was to zone the three types of rebates that were being received. And under the home heating oil tax situation, that meant that those living in zone C who were really in some of the communities that are the most remote, most rural, they would have been receiving a much higher benefit to account for the fact that the...

Sorry, Mr. Speaker. If it's the amount of home heating fuel home heating oil revenue, I can certainly get that number for the Member. For the current year, that's the taxation just to be clear, so I can get the correct information, it's the tax the number I'm going to get is the tax being collected for home heating fuel in the Northwest Territories. We can certainly provide that in due course. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the details of this program, which I don't have standing in front of me right now in terms of the specific policy, but the details were communicated back in August when the program was announced. That included the timelines for making applications, the process for making applications. The initial evacuations when the programs that we had for those who were evacuated early in the year, we actually had staff attending at the facilities within the Northwest Territories to help people make their applications and to explain the process to them. And so all of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I suppose if I'm not clear it's because the question is not clear what is being asked about the tracking. Every application that is sent to the department is logged, and every inquiry that is being sent in with respect to say that there's been an issue, that one, they are also being monitored. And to the best of my knowledge in terms of the tracking, most of those that have applied and have been processed are, indeed, paid and have been paid. So there's been some late payments. But, I mean, as far as someone saying that they made an application and haven't...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm conscious that you want us to stick to our times. So I'll try to be brief, but this is a source of some frustration for myself and for the department.

Yes, the Department of Finance certainly has engaged with officials from ECC or Environment and Climate Change Canada. We've made the case. We've pled the case. We were told quite frankly that no, we will not get any extension in the amount of time that we can offer an exemption. No, there will not be any blanket exemptions. No, there will essentially be very little that accounts for the realities of costs...