Caroline Wawzonek

Mr. Chair, I think the money that had to be spent by September 30th might be the next line item under MACA, which is funding for sports and community associations. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs was successful in getting us some flexibility on that one. As such, that's the money that had to go out. I apologize. The money that's going to municipalities, if, in fact, the supplementary does move forward then, at that point, we'd be able to formalize the allocation. I know the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs has been engaged with the Northwest Territories Association...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. First, I am going to turn it over to the deputy minister because I think I just read out the wrong listing of items, and I just want to make sure that I am not getting that wrong. I am going to send it over there while I make sure I am on the right page. Sorry, Mr. Chair. Then I can come back to the $8 million.

I suggest that go to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member actually has foreshadowed my response, which is that it is an ongoing issue. It's not a new problem, but it's one that certainly does involve EIA and the Premier as well as the Minister of Justice. To some degree, there may well be a role for the Department of Finance. Certainly, there are funding considerations here. Mr. Chair, perhaps what I'll do is ensure that we take that away and provide a written response to the Member that better reflects the conversation that needs to be had by all the departments. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I also came from the private sector before I arrived here. This is the longest I've spent working in the government, other than a stint when I was about 20 years old as an intern. I do also take seriously the situation that is being faced by the private sector right now. That said, Mr. Chair, let me go through a number of the other items that I heard.

Increasing government employment. Again, Mr. Chair, it is very difficult to fight a pandemic when you are redeploying staff who have other jobs to do. The money that we received from the federal government was not money that...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, today we have the deputy minister of Finance, Sandy Kalgutkar, and Jamie Koe, deputy secretary to the Financial Management Board.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. They are being allotted a regional way in order to try to help cover off some of the communities that are in need. Right now, to my knowledge, it is the North Slave, Tlicho region, the Deh Cho, and Sahtu that are likely to receive these positions. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member from Hay River North, that Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, be read for the second time. The bill reduces the small business tax rate from 4 percent to 2 percent effective January 1, 2020. It also makes retroactive amendments to harmonize the Northwest Territories tax regime with the federal system. Those amendments do two things: ensure that split income received by a senior is factored into the determination of their Territorial Age Credit; and allow more pension credit for veterans. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

There is actually a Buy North campaign already that the department of ITI has been sponsoring. It's free for all businesses to participate in the program. It's being advertised around the Northwest Territories, though, given the question, it seems that perhaps the knowledge about the program needs to be looked at again. As for what might be done to increase or enhance the participation in the program for businesses and what we can do, I will certainly go and see if there are some best practices from my colleagues in other parts of the country, that we can employ here in advance of the...

I am certainly not one to shy away from the fact that we need to react quickly to what's happening with COVID-19 and react quickly to what's happening in the business community. However, at the same time, I am also determined that we have to maintain our due diligence before making a policy change that is to a program that has been long-standing, so I am not going to take a position here on the floor today that we will significantly alter that program going forward.

The Member has certainly given me an interesting way of approaching business relief. There are a lot of programs that are out...