Caroline Wawzonek

We went out and did exactly what we said we would do, which is to get in touch with Northwestel, who are, in fact, the largest provider of cell coverage and cell services in the Northwest Territories and would be in the best place to actually be the provider of cell coverage and cell services on this stretch of highway. Having done that, we have an initial costing, and now we are at the stage of doing an evaluation on final costing. The infrastructure acquisition plan that is in front of all of us this week, if the Member is suggesting that this would make its way into that, that was not ever...

Mr. Speaker, in February, during the delivery of the budget speech, I said it was time to use creativity and innovation to find internal efficiencies. Since then, our government has had to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in my last two fiscal updates since the onset of COVID-19, I have again said that now is the time to use creativity and use this moment of heightened awareness around our fiscal situation to consider how we want to emerge from the pandemic as a government and as a territory.

The Department of Finance's mandate is to "obtain, manage, and control the financial resources...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What the government can do and what the government is doing is assessing the feasibility of this project so that we can actually determine what the actual costs will be and then be able to make an informed choice about whether or not the government can find a way to fill a gap, if there is, in fact, a gap in the market. By doing that, we can also go out and see if there may be potential partners. This may be an opportunity where the Indigenous governments of that region may want to become involved, but it's difficult to go and have that conversation in a meaningful and honest way without...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have done a number of things since the time of June. We have already responded back. This same enquiry was made by some of the chiefs from the Member's communities, as well as from the Yellowknife mayor. We have responded back to them to let them know the work that we have undertaken. We have some initial costing that would demonstrate the costs of either partial or full coverage between the Whati junction to Yellowknife, so we have that initial costing done. That was done in conjunction with Northwestel and the Department of Finance, and we have communicated that...

It's my understanding that that is the intention. I don't have the numbers in front of me. I will make sure and get that confirmation and share it with the Member.

I did want to acknowledge that the Member had expressed the fact and outlined the fact that the program has been adapted to COVID-19 and that that adaptation happened quickly on the part of ITI. I would note that, for the purposes of COVID-19 right now, the SEED program has shifted rather substantially and that, for this year, they have waived the market disruption clause and indeed re-shifted the focus of a lot of the SEED funding so that small and medium-sized businesses can apply under a fairly different set of policies, given the fact that the markets themselves are quite disrupted. Thank...

Increasing the funding on a permanent basis is something that has to go through a business-planning process and an analysis to determine if, in fact, that is the best way to spend public dollars. Certainly, there is a suite of programs right now that support entrepreneurs in small and medium-sized businesses, including not only the SEED program but programs spread across ITI, as well as BIP. I will say that part of what I want to ensure we do is make sure that we are adequately funding those programs in a way that they become complementary and that they fill gaps one from the next, but that...

I can definitely commit that, if there is such an application that was denied on the basis of market disruption after such time as that announcement was made, that we will be looking at it again and ensure that it does meet the intentions as they have been stated and retooled to meet to COVID-19.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thought I'd have an easy answer there, and then I heard "2021," and I'm not able to make that commitment on the floor right now. As I've said, for the moment, when the SEED Policy had been retooled to accommodate and to respond to COVID-19, the market disruption clause has been waived for the current fiscal year. Mr. Speaker, I can assure the Member that we are going to be looking at that, given where we're at and if the pandemic continues to be ongoing and, in fact, continues to be fairly disruptive in the southern regions. I will certainly commit to looking at that...