Thank you, Madam Chair. Even at present, this is probably a few days old. The current forecast of the department is to be in a slight decrease in overall cash flow by the end of the fiscal. What we are able to have repaid will depend very much on what revenues we are able to get back in.

I can assure the Member that the request to make this part of the short-term borrowing limit would stand only until the end of the fiscal year. To the extent that there would be a total increase in the short-term borrowing limit, that may well be changed significantly in time for the next fiscal strategy so that we can look at the fiscal plan over the next couple of months and try to do, frankly, a more accurate job of forecasting, to the extent that that is possible, so that we don't necessarily require as much in terms of short-term borrowing for next year. That would certainly be our hope and our intention going forward in terms of planning for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

Thank you. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the Finance Minister for that information. Can the Minister confirm that the bulk of this short-term borrowing is to assist with the Health and Social Services authority's payroll, which she talked about at the beginning of her answers, and can she say whether, in fact, the authority is in a position to repay this money to the Department of Finance by the end of the fiscal year? Thank you.

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am told that the increase in the total debt to the Health and Social Services authority should be approximately $9 million, so, certainly, the increase in the short-term borrowing limit that the Department of Finance is seeking will still be there to support the health system and the health authority and their payroll.

The purpose of increasing the short-term borrowing limit is meant to be a short-term technique used in order to support all of the shorter-term and day-over-day cash requirements, including payrolls for all departments. Certainly, it is notable that it is the health department that has the single biggest item that is outstanding at this time.

Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the Finance Minister for that. I am going to just ask the same kind of question in a different way. What capacity does the health authority or do the collective health authorities have to reimburse the Department of Finance for the payroll owing over a quite large number of years? It is, in my understanding, well in excess of $100 million. What capacity do the health authorities have to pay that money back? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The simple answer is that the health authorities have limited and challenged capacity to pay the money back. That is the reason for which the Department of Finance is working with them in order to try to ensure that their own internal fiscal frameworks are as responsible, going forward, as possible.

There are a number of initiatives underway currently, partnered between Finance and the health authority, to this purpose, one example of which is the "towards a better future" initiative. That is something that has been organized between the health department and health authority as well as the Department of Finance. It is meant to be an opportunity to examine why it is that their fiscal situation is as challenged as it is. Another is to bring them into the System for Accountability & Management. That is the general system of accounting used within the finance department and within the financial system of the GNWT, generally. It is hoped that, although there are no reductions in positions or employment, but that, by doing this, we are reducing the costs of licensing fees for the financial systems that are currently being used by all the different authorities and using just one, so eliminating those licensing fees, which are significant, as well as allowing the health department to have far better data management, data organization, and data evaluation so that they can then continue their process, again in partnership with the Department of Finance, to see where they can be more efficient overall in their processing.

That is the longer version and the longer explanation, the hope therefore being that, over a short to medium term, the Department of Health and Social Services will be better placed to not be relying on the Department of Finance to be supporting payroll. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you. What I heard in that answer was a process to quantify the problem, but I didn't hear a solution to the problem. If the health authorities are limited and challenged, as you say, to pay this money back, then is this really short-term borrowing or is this really long-term borrowing? Thank you.

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. There are two different challenges. The short-term borrowing is in the Department of Finance, and that is so that the Department of Finance can manage the total finances of the Government of the Northwest Territories and be able to look at the totality of what is being demanded and needed in order to run all of the essential government programs and services, including the health authority, including their payroll, and that is the short-term borrowing aspect of it.

The health of the health department's finances is a long-term challenge, but that is not one that is being singularly solved by the request that we are putting forward here. The Department of Finance right now is supporting the health departments, who keep their employees paid and make sure that people in the Northwest Territories have access to the healthcare system in the best way possible.

Being able to quantify the problem, while unsatisfying in the short term, but from the perspective of being able to evaluate and look for efficiencies, truly understanding where those inefficiencies are is going to be critical in order for the Department of Finance to actually go in and be able to look at where there can be ways to make those processes leaner and make those processes more efficient. For us, quantifying actually is quite critical. That is a medium- and long-term solution, but it is unrelated in a lot of ways to the short-term borrowing increase that we are seeking here, which is really to get the government to the end of this fiscal year in as financially responsible a way as possible. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. I just want to encourage the Minister to keep their answers brief and allow the Members to make most of their time. I am going to move on to Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am thankful to the Member for Yellowknife Centre for starting off my question. We have seen continuous growth over the last few Assemblies of the short-term borrowing. I am just wondering if the Department of Finance intends to maintain the $525-million short-term borrowing limit for the 2020-2021 fiscal year or if they would eventually like to reset that to the $390-million limit that we had before. Thank you.

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We have only really just begun the internal process of looking at what the fiscal framework and fiscal policy will be, going forward. I can say, quite honestly, it is not an overt intention by any stretch to maintain a higher short-term borrowing policy or short-term borrowing limit. I am also cognizant that there seems a trend only ever upwards, and so, while I can't say what the final number will be now, the entirety of that number is still under discussion and evaluation. The intent is to look at the totality of what is happening and get a better handle on it and come to a decision. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am curious if the Minister of Finance can speak to what actions the Department has taken to avoid going through this exercise again a year from now.

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. No one would like to avoid that more than me right now. Things that are being put into place, Madam Chair, we would include simply, really, that is the entirety of the budgeting strategy and the fiscal policy strategy and ensuring that, when we create a budget, the budget needs to do a better job of being accurate in terms of the estimates going forward. We are in a totally new position, a new government, a new administration, as well, and we have the opportunity to really evaluate and question each department that comes forward and ensure that, when they bring an estimate forward, those estimates are accurate, as much as is possible. Similarly, that when they know there is something that has uncertainties around it, that we identify where those uncertainties are so that at least, if there do have to be supplementary appropriations, which there will, that we have some sense of what they are going to be in advance, as much as possible.

Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am also wondering if the Minister of Finance can go into detail about what, if any, reduction efforts the Department of Finance is planning to undertake, specifically in relation to positions within the GNWT and GNWT salaries. Thank you.

Minister of Finance.