Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have talked about this in the House a number of times. I believe that the procurement policies that we have in place and along with our trade agreements, along with the BIP Incentive Policy Program, that our procurement policies and principles that we have followed in the Government of the Northwest Territories are here to benefit the residents of the Northwest Territories. We will continue to use them in that manner moving forward.

I have said a number of times in this House that I'm not willing to have a look at a review of doing anything on this policy at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. One of the concerns also raised by committee was the nature of engagement on procurement policies that it is to educate private sector actors on how to engage with the government's policies rather than to get feedback on procurement, I understand, if there are any concerns or complaints. Is the department investing additional resources to improve its engagement efforts with contractors who are benefiting from procurement or perhaps frustrated with how procurement is working? I'll put it this way, Mr. Chair: if the policies are not the issue, then the engagement must be. How is the department proposing in this budget to enhance its engagement efforts and clearly communicate the nature of its policies and the effectiveness of its policies to my constituents and Northerners? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This same question did come up in the House and I have talked about it and how we do business with the GNWT workshops. We have delivered them in a number of communities right across the Northwest Territories. We will continue to build on that in this fiscal year. This is something that we feel is important that people in the Northwest Territories know how to do business within the government system, how to fill out the BIP Incentive paperwork and stuff, and we have also had questions around contracts concerning purchases under $25,000 to the Minister of Finance. We continue to look at these things going forward. We will continue to hold our workshops to engage the business community in the NWT to make sure they know what we're doing moving forward. We will continue to work with all Members and try to make sure that everyone has fair access to procurement in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Testart.

Thank you. Mr. Chair. I thank the Minister for that response. I did hear any enhancements, so I will assume that the preparations are remaining consistent for those activities.

Finally, the Manufacturing Strategy has been undertaken by not this department, but depending on the outcomes of it, it may affect procurement policies. Is there any money or any budget or any budgetary activities in this department that would change procurement policies based on the findings and the ultimate resolution of the Manufacturing Strategy? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I haven't even tabled the "what we heard" report for the Manufacturing Strategy yet. When we table that and have a look at it and run that through committee and start moving this thing forward, then we will have a look at what the concerns are, and if there is something that we need to have a serious look at as a government to possibly changing things around the procurement on that side of things, then we'll take those into consideration at the time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So at this time, there is no appropriation set aside to deal with the Manufacturing Strategy in this department or any of the other departments under the Minister's ministry? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, there's no money set aside for hypothetically what's coming down the pipe for the Manufacturing Strategy. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Further, Mr. Testart?

I thank the Minister for clarifying, but I am concerned about the status quo approach to procurement, as I'm sure he's well aware, and other Members of this House are concerned, and the Standing Committees on Economic Development and Environment are concerned. I hope that, as we develop strategies and documents like the Manufacturing Strategy, we are better positioned as an Assembly to address these public concerns and make progress on them one way or another. Either amend the policies or provide additional resources in the form of subsidies or enhance existing engagement programs or procurement policy programs.

I don't have much more to say other than I don't think the status quo is working. I know the Minister disagrees on that, but I want to be clear for the record that we have more work to do on this as an Assembly until we are all satisfied that we have a procurement system that works for Northerners, and that doesn't only work for government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Infrastructure. Total department. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just had a general question for the department. Does it have any policies with regard to our infrastructure projects whereby there are quotas or targets set for northern apprentices or trades, or is it just left to the free market to determine? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you. Let the record show that that was Mr. Guy speaking. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The reason why I'm raising this is that some of us have had an opportunity to meet with the Northern Territories Federation of Labour on this specific issue of how other jurisdictions actually use their large infrastructure projects for training, well, to build capacity for doing training and trades and apprenticeships, and so on. If we don't really have a policy around that, I'm a bit concerned.

Mr. Guy talked about how some of this was done on the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway. Can the department provide us with a little bit more information, then, about how these matters were handled on the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway? I don't need it for tomorrow, but it would be helpful information, I think, to have. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We'll certainly pull that together, and the requirements that were put together for that project and share that with the Member at some point. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.