Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we did acknowledge the email that I got this morning from the Member and thank you for bringing this to my attention.

As with any other procurement matter, I'm not going to be putting these details on the floor of the House. I have already tasked the department to look into it and when we to get a matter where there's some concerns around a procurement scoring, much like a human resource matter, there are avenues and channels by which we can have our staff review it, can have it go through a review. And certainly, until that's been done, Mr. Speaker, I'm not going...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Inter-Activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 (April 1st, 2024 to March 31st, 2025). Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I do every year after Youth Parliament, today I am bringing the words of the youth representative from Yellowknife South to this House, ensuring all Members and the public hear the fresh perspectives, innovative solutions, and policy insights reflected in the voice of our youth. And so, Mr. Speaker, this year, Yellowknife South, who was represented by Lauren Tordiff, and these words are hers:

As young people, we inherit the challenges of today and the responsibility to create solutions for tomorrow. If we want to tackle issues like the high cost of living, we must ask...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely, Mr. Speaker, and I will say one important thing that's come on this project is that very typically departments do community readiness working plans on large scale infrastructure projects and would typically do them a year or so out from construction.

Mr. Speaker, the communities in the Sahtu have been are very clear. They want that work starting now, and so I can say we have put an application in to the federal government to realign some of the ICIP money that is supporting the Mackenzie Valley Highway so that we can get the working groups for these readiness...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are waiting to hear back from the federal government. We do have an application in for the whole funding. The importance of having 100 percent public dollars on this is that it means that it doesn't go on the ratepayers. It doesn't add to people's costs of power which, of course, are as I said earlier today, the highest in Canada. So it's very important, as the Minister responsible, that we are not putting this on the backs of ratepayers. Even though we want to ensure they have sustainable and reliable energy, we don't want people to be paying for costs they just can...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is actually a GNWT project, and so in that sense there is a plan. There certainly is a strong desire to see an opportunity to run a transmission line from just outside of Hay River through -- past Kakisa and up into Fort Providence that would -- that represents -- that extra bit would represent about 15 percent of our total emissions and obviously a significant reduction on reliance of diesel which is very volatile prices to the residents in those regions. So there is this plan in the way. It already has regulatory approval to get to constructions. We...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This was a question that came up, I believe, in the last Assembly, if not earlier as well, and I can say that the Department of Finance was asked and did reach out to counterparts in Saskatchewan to better understand the SGI model, to learn whether or not it could be applicable here or brought about to the Northwest Territories. Obviously, as a fairly small jurisdiction, very small population and very small revenue base, creating a program of insurance would be next to impossible as it would not give a sufficient base of paying in in order to be able to pay out. And so...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member from Kam Lake, that Bill 30, Supplementary Appropriations Act (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization) No. 1, 2025-2026, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, the March 2023 -- or March 2025 year has not yet been completed, Mr. Speaker, but the 2024 amounts are still being finalized, and I can give you an estimate that we're sitting around $6.9 million. That would be 3.6 percent decrease from the 2023 reported premium tax. As I'd said earlier, we are now tabulating 2024. 2025 will be reported in a year -- just over -- just under a year from now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this is an amount that is in response to concerns that have been raised by the judiciary. Now, I will answer maybe the last question before the first, which is whether or not it was foreseen. Mr. Chair, obviously -- I shouldn't say obviously, but judiciary has raised concerns about the state of the building and whether or not it was adequate and fit to purpose over the course of some time, and there have been over the course of time different efforts to try to alleviate those concerns.

What has been raised and what is proposed to be done on this present occasion...