Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the federal election, there was an indication that there would be money allocated to provinces and territories by the federal government, about $3.9 billion over a four-year period. We don't actually know how they plan to distribute those dollars or what the criteria is for utilizing those dollars are. If past predicts future, and they use the same types of formula as they have in the past, which is often population-based, we could get as much as $3.6 million over the four years, which works out to just over $900,000 a year.
We, and all the other provinces and territories, are working with the federal government to figure out how to distribute those funds and what those funds can be utilized for. It is clear that it is for home care but not the scope and nature. In the past, there have been some concerns about some of the federal dollars that are rolled out that have been very specific. There hasn't been a lot of flexibility. The provinces and territories are suggesting to Ottawa that our needs across this country are different, and there needs to be some room for flexibility.
One of our concerns about the dollars, when they do flow, is they are often referred to as boutique funds or short-term funds. We will get four years of money, and we have to be cautious about setting up programs or delivering programs that become expected and we are required to continue to deliver them because the federal money will end. As we are accessing these monies, we need to figure out how to ensure that we are either set up to continue programs or that they are utilized to help us design programs that we then have to come to this House to fund. But as the Member knows, we do have financial challenges here in the Northwest Territories. We need to make choices here in this building about cuts, reductions, corrections in order to invest in new initiatives. We are all going to have to work together to find out where the money is. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.