Member for Frame Lake.

Great. Thanks. That is what I had suspected and appreciate the response from our witnesses. This will be an ongoing cost into the future. The total supplementary appropriation, I think, is for $4.5 million, essentially. The Minister said $3.5 million is for the City of Yellowknife. What is the other $1 million for [microphone turned off]?

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. There is an increase in the Norman Wells mill rates. With respect to the opening of the Norman Wells Health Centre, that does include some of the additional increase, $52,000. As well, there are some other assets within the Yellowknife region where, again owing to the change in rate, the assessment values also rose. That accounts, I believe, for the remainder of the full amount being sought on the supplementary appropriation. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair, and thanks to the Minister for that. I am trying to reconcile this against the information that was provided to us in the briefing and so on. Can the Minister commit to getting us an actual breakdown of what this MACA supplementary appropriation is actually for by property? I have now heard that it is Stanton Hospital, Norman Wells Hospital, as well as various other Yellowknife properties. That is what not what we heard before. Can I get a breakdown of the exact number associated with each property that makes up the $4.492 million that we are supposed to be approving today? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Minister of Finance.

Absolutely, Madam Chair. We can do that.

If there are no further comments, does committee agree to proceed to the detail contained in the tabled document? Committee, we will begin on page 4, 2019-2020 Supplementary Estimates, No. 3, Operations Expenditures, Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, operations expenditures, regional operations, not previously authorized, $4,492,000. Does committee agree?

Total department, not previously authorized, $4,492,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. Please turn to page 5. We will now open the floor to general comments on the Department of Finance. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have detail questions. Is this the right time to ask those?

Yes.

Thank you. Because I wear this earphone all the time, I just want to caution the Minister of Finance that she is talking before the red light goes on, so some of her answers are not being recorded. Having said that, I wonder if the Minister could give us a breakdown of the components of the cash-flow issue for which the government is seeking $135,000 in borrowing? Thank you.

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. There are a number of contributing factors that are impacting on the cash flow, as we have identified them quite recently. For one, simply put, there was a much lower starting point from what had been projected; outstanding receivables from the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority for repayment of their payroll, $117 million; the collective agreement resulted in increases to overall GNWT payroll, and that has impacted on the cash flow estimates; the delay in terms of federal funding that is received and that will be coming in as revenue but that doesn't necessarily arrive and is difficult to know exactly when it arrives, so that is being put through at cash flow, and that makes it difficult, even though that we know the money is coming, we just don't know exactly when; various other outstanding receivables for work being performed, again, often it's particularly for the federal government when there are initiatives under way, for example, in the health department, and they may be, in fact, fully funded, but the work is being done by the GNWT, and then there are receivables that are outstanding from those other parties.

Those are some of the examples, Madam Chair, of what has impacted on this situation. I neglected that there have also been changes in terms of the revenues that are being received. Revenues are lower, for example, with respect to the corporate taxes. Corporate taxes were expected to be a receivable and have, in fact, been below zero this year. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the Minister for that response. Can the Minister commit to itemizing each of these points in a dollar amount and providing that to this committee? Thank you.

Minister of Finance.

The reason I was delaying is we are making constant efforts, and certainly Mr. Kalgutkar, I know, since bringing this matter forward has been making consistent efforts to increase the pressure to get our invoices paid and have revenues come in. The numbers are changing over time, but what we can do is certainly provide a more itemized breakdown for the Members so that they have a much clearer picture. I realize that these appear to be more like estimates, but we can provide more specific numbers at a particular point in time so that there is a better sense of where things are at, at one given moment, just acknowledging that they are changing, and we are doing what we can to help them change for the better, to the extent that that is within our control.

Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the Finance Minister. Pick a point in time. We understand that this is not fixed. Of the $135 million that you are seeking in borrowing for cash flow purposes, how much of that will be reimbursed by the end of the fiscal year? Thank you.