Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, yes, probably me and the Member are going to disagree on why we need it. First and foremost, I respect his opinion, but in regard to the funding through the federal government, it's like all other federal government programs that are out there that we as the GNWT are mandated to work with and utilize. Sometimes, a negotiation takes a little bit longer because it's on their timing and that, so we need to work with them. Right now, we would just move along based on the fact that we feel very comfortable that we are close to signing it and we are able to...

[Microphone turned off] ...is decreased due to sunset of funding for the shortfall in compensation and benefits at devolution. Thank you.

Thank you. I will start, and then I will actually ask our assistant deputy minister to come in and finish off the answer, with your permission. Thank you. Right now, we are looking at -- sorry, I am trying to get my wording here. We are looking at making sure we do it properly. We are going to be reaching out to people. I just want to answer the Member's comment there. If they are eligible for a lease, we need to follow a process. The process is exactly what we did post-devolution, so there is a process, which would include a Section 5 consultation. However, for the numbers and that, I will...

For that detail, I will have to actually ask the deputy minister for that answer. Thank you.

For that kind of detail, we'll probably have to get back to the Member, but just so everybody is aware, this is an in-and-out. This is an agreement with the federal government. They give us the money, and then we give it to the Surface Rights Board. It's no indication from GNWT to spend any of their money into it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. With your permission, I would like to switch out our assistant deputy minister to our deputy minister again. With your permission, thank you, Mr. Chair.

For that detail, I will turn to the deputy minister. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. The Member is asking about taxation again, and that's not our department. That is Municipal and Community Affairs' responsibility and how they assess the taxes. The question that he is asking, he will probably have to reach out to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to get clarity on that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll start, and then with your permission, I'll turn to the deputy minister. Presently, we don't have an agreement in place, but we've been in negotiations and conversations with the federal government. We just recently had an update that I would like to share with the House and, with your permission, turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.

Thank you. The Member is talking in regards to our equity lease staff that had a three-year term contract. The collective agreement changed it so that, after 24 months, this person would become an indeterminate position. When they were in that position with equity leases, they were indeterminate. When the funding was gone, that person became an affected employee; they were no longer a term employee, so as the assistant deputy minister explained, because of the new collective agreement, it changed from a term to up to 24 months; then it became an indeterminate, so we needed to follow the HR...