Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee would like to consider Tabled Document 322-18(3), Main Estimates, 2019-2020, with the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs as the item under consideration for Committee of the Whole today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. We will consider the document after a brief recess.

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Welcome back, committee. We have agreed to consider the main estimates for the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs. I will turn to the Minister responsible for opening comments. Premier McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to present the 2019-2020 Main Estimates for the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs. These estimates total $22.1 million, which represents an overall proposed increase of $715,000, or 3 percent over the 2018-2019 Main Estimates.

The departments' proposed increase relates to forced growth initiatives and transfers partially offset by sunsets. Highlights of the proposed estimates include:

$250,000 in funding to assist in self-government implementation;

$50,000 in additional funding to match contributions to the Arctic Inspiration Prize; and

$38,000 in additional funding to support the delivery of campaign schools to further encourage women's participation in politics.

These estimates continue to support the priorities of the 18^th Legislative Assembly by improving residents of smaller communities' awareness and ability to access government programs and services through government service officers and Single Window Service Centres. Currently there are 22 communities across the Northwest Territories with Single Window Service Centres, providing residents with a single point of access to information on government programs and services. Of these 22 Single Window Service Centres, 15 have now expanded their services to seamlessly deliver Government of Canada programs and services directly to residents in some of our most remote communities.

These estimates also include $250,000 in additional resources for the continuation of advancing, finalizing, and implementing lands, resources, and self-government agreements. With the possibility of up to 42 self-governments, self-government financing agreements, and implementations plans in the Northwest Territories, this funding supports the Government of the Northwest Territories' mandate and legal commitments and obligations arising from self-government agreements.

The additional funding for the Arctic Inspiration Prize shows the Government of the Northwest Territories' continued commitment to a strong and sustainable Arctic in the areas of education, human health, socio-cultural issues, environment, and economy.

Finally, these main estimates continue to support initiatives designed to increase the number of women running for elected office in the Northwest Territories in support of our mandate commitments in this area.

That concludes my opening remarks. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Premier. Do you have witnesses you wish to bring into the House?

Yes, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Please introduce your witnesses for the record.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my left, I have Michael Aumond, the deputy minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, and to my right, I have Chervahun Emilien, director of Shared Services. Thank you.

Thank you. Committee, the department begins on page 103 of the document. There are five activities, and there are three additional information items at the end, which we will treat as one. We will defer consideration of the total department until after consider of the activities. The first activity is on page 110, Cabinet support. Comments or questions from committee? Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Cabinet support, operations expenditure summary, $2,523,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. Moving on to activity 2, corporate communications. It begins on page 113. Comments or questions? Executive and Indigenous Affairs, corporate communications, operations expenditure summary, $1,399,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. Please turn to the next activity, directorate, which begins on page 116. Comments or questions? Mr. Nakimayak, getting things started.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just looking at the fourth line on page 117, I notice that they are giving $100,000 to the Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation Strategic Direction and Action Plan. My question is just: is that sunset? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, that was for a two-year period, and that will sunset this year.

Thank you. Mr. Nakimayak.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That was just for the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway, if I'm correct. Right? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

No, that was to the community corporation to help provide for some tourism facilities and products to deal with the influx of tourists brought on by the opening of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Nakimayak.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, I notice that, this fall, there will be construction to the Tlicho all-season road. I don't think it's the government's fault, but the planning for visitor centres and things like that, to prepare a community for such infrastructure, I'm looking forward that hopefully there are a lot of lessons learned from the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway construction project going to Tlicho so that they are better prepared as they open infrastructure like that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. If the Premier could respond. Premier.

Thank you. Yes, in this case, it was viewed as a one-off, and it was strongly suggested to us that we shouldn't be providing one-offs, so in future our expectation is it will be dealt with through the main project funding. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Anything further?

No, thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks to the Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Nakimayak. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to ask the Premier if this is the correct area to be talking about the expansion of the Single Window Service Centres. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

I think it would be more properly dealt with through the section on regional operations, but if the Member wants to talk about it now, that would be fine, as well.

Thank you. If it's found in regional operations, I suggest we -- where would the regional operations be found? I don't see an activity called "regional operations." All right, we'll discuss it here. Mr. Beaulieu.

I see that, on the line "regional operations," I guess that's where the single service is. I just have a question on if there is any thought or discussion or plan to expand to Detah? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess the original idea for service officers was to help serve the most remote, isolated communities. Detah is, I guess, in the wintertime it's five minutes away, so I expect that, at some point, if resources are available, we would look at it. Detah is only five minutes away from all of the government services in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes. I remember the concept of Single Window Service Centres. I agree that it is remote. Surprisingly, it appears as though there could really be a need for it in Detah. Also, it appears as though, if we had a Single Window Service Centre in Detah, it is almost like the YK Dene would look at that to also service the people in Ndilo. I thought about this a lot. I am thinking that, even due to language, a lot of this service is directed to the elders, and some of the elders prefer to get their services in their own language. As people may know, I speak one of the languages that the elders use but not both. I am wondering, to take a look at it, maybe for language reasons and also for the fact that, even though Detah is close, like I said, it appears as though they are still not coming into Yellowknife to get the services that Yellowknife people will gather throughout the city. I know that this is so that it could bring all the GNWT services into a single window. Again, I would like to ask the Premier if they would at least look at it to see if, like he said, there is extra money in the future that they could put into this, that Detah wouldn't be completely out of getting it, if there is absolutely no possibility of them getting a Single Window Service Centre in their community. Thank you.

Thank you. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In my mind, there are two ways to deal with it. Probably the easiest one would be if we had additional resources and Detah popped up as a top priority. Probably, that would be the best way to go. A more complicated way is to look at how we provide bilingual services. We pay bilingual employees extra money to provide services in their Aboriginal languages. We have interpreters at work. Maybe it is better to just focus on communities who speak the language. Right now, my preference would be to see if we can find additional resources to see if we can do something for Detah. There are some communities where we are offering GSOs and they don't want it. Maybe we could look at moving some, as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Nothing further from Mr. Beaulieu. Next, Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think Regular MLAs have been asking for three years, this will be the fourth year, if there is a plan to complete the Single Window Service Centres, GSOs, or similar functions for all of the communities of the Northwest Territories. Is there such a plan, and can the Minister share it with the Regular MLAs? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

Thank you. We responded to committee by letter on February 11^th. That is our approach to dealing with this. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Sorry. I didn't quite hear what the Premier said. If he could provide an explanation, that would be helpful. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We provided, though confidential letter, our response to his very question on the letter dated February 11^th to the Member. Essentially, we said if we had additional resources, we would look at it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am trying to understand what the problem is here. If there are additional resources required, why not prepare a plan so that we know what those are and whether it is over three, five years, whatever, that is fine, and how that function is going to be carried out in the regional centres, the capital, to have the Single Window Service Centres. I don't understand what the problem is in preparing a plan. Can the Premier try again? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think the problem is a difference in opinion. When we first started with Single Window Service Centres, it was for small, isolated communities, not for the capital city and not for regional centres. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess we actually do have a difference of opinion here. I don't understand why we wouldn't want to ensure that our residents in regional centres, including Yellowknife, would have access to Single Window Service Centres. It is a good move that there are 15 communities now where the federal government and territorial government services are offered through a one-window approach. Why wouldn't we want to do that sort of thing in regional centres, as well, or even Yellowknife?

Service Canada has an office here in Yellowknife. Is there not a way that we can try to work with those folks so that they could also offer information and access to GNWT programs? I don't think it necessarily even means hiring more staff. Without a plan, it is just not going to happen. Can the Minister commit to preparing a plan to roll out this function in all of our communities? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our plan is: we have been converting all of our services to online services as much as we can. We are continuing to move in that direction. We are also moving towards Single Window Service Centres. We have shared services arrangements. If the Member feels that we would be better served by having individual service officers in Yellowknife, we certainly can look at that, as well. Thank you.

Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am actually suggesting that. I think that is what a number of Regular MLAs have been suggesting for the last three years, the development of such a plan. It is fine to have more services available online, but not everybody has access to the Internet. Not everybody knows how to use the Internet. We have a growing population of seniors who, I think, would find that function particularly helpful. Can the Minister commit to preparing such a plan? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Premier.

At this late stage, if it is on the mandate list for the next government, they could look at it, for sure. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think we will just have to wait until we get a different Minister to complete this task. Can someone tell me whether there are any plans to review the Status of Women Council Act? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Premier.

Certainly not by EIA. All we do is provide administrative services to the Minister responsible for Women. I don't think there is a plan to review the Status of Women Act at this time. Perhaps through you, Mr. Chair, we can pass it over to the Minister responsible for the Status of Women.

Thank you. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The act for the status of women actually was a priority. It was one that I had actually identified when I first began my position as Minister of Status of Women. However, at that time, working with the NWT Status of Women Council, they felt that it was appropriate that it didn't need any changes. Since that time, there has been a total change in administration and chairs. They have looked at it again, and they are in agreement with me that it needs to be changed, but, because it is so late in the day, we have agreed to put it onto the 19^th Legislative Assembly. It does definitely need to be changed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am glad to hear the Minister say that. It is quite an antiquated piece of legislation. I would hope that it makes into transition reports from your side of the House and our side. That is something that needs to be done. That's all I've got, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, we have Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Going back to Single Window Service Centres, I know that, in the riding, it sort of, kind of, has one. We haven't figured out if they are going to take it or not. What is happening with the community of Wrigley? When are they on the schedule to get a GSO? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Aumond.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that answer and the clarity on that. If Sambaa K'e takes it, will Wrigley be the next one being looked at? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

That is correct.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When we talked about friendship centre funding, could the Premier explain a little bit more about exactly what is happening with this pot of money? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We had committed to providing $80,000 a year for two years, with a commitment that we would match up to a further $175,000 if they raised the money. It hasn't been brought to my attention, but I do not believe that they have come back and asked for additional matching money yet at this point. I am hopeful that they will be able to come and ask for more money very shortly. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I hope they do, too. I think it is a very important organization, the friendship centre. I know that the Premier thinks the same thing. After two years, are we looking to review it and see if there is an opportunity to continue this arrangement, or is it done after these two years? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As we normally do, we would review how successful or not successful that pilot project was. If we feel that it would be successful and if the friendship centres are still all committed to it, I would hope that we could go forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Next, I have Mr. Blake, I believe.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just under the government Single Window Service Centres, I know that we discussed it in the past, but it is a great program in the communities. In my riding, in communities like Tsiigehtchic with no services in the community, this is a real benefit.

One thing that we were asking about is making these positions full-time. Right now, they are part-time, and they have a big workload, especially at times in the fall and even this time of year, mainly because it seems like every year elders have to fill out these same forms, whether it is home heating subsidies or help with their taxes. Mr. Chair, there is a big demand for help, especially from the elderly.

Will the Premier and the department look at making these full-time positions? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess we could look at it from a couple of angles. One is that, if the workload supports the fact that we need full-time positions, then we are prepared to look at it. Secondly, a lot of the service workers are only working half-time because that is their preference. A lot of them would prefer to stay at half-time, because, in some cases, if we change it, then we will probably have to find other people who are willing to work full-time. Certainly, though, we are prepared to look at it if the workload warrants it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Blake.

Well, that sounds promising. I am sure that the larger communities, like, for example, Fort McPherson or Aklavik, would be willing do that. There are a lot more people in the community and a bigger demand with elders and people that need these services. I know that it is a great benefit to the communities, and I look forward to that full-time position in the near future. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Anything else on the department or on the activity directorate? Seeing none, I will call the page. Executive and Indigenous Affairs, directorate, operations expenditures summary, $5,725,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. Please turn to the fourth activity, Executive Council offices. This activity begins on page 120. Comments or questions from committee? Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. There is an increase of $200,000 in Ministers' offices. If you go back to 2017-2018, it is almost $400,000. Can someone help me understand these increases? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Over the past three years, there has been a significant increase in ministerial travel, primarily because of the fact that the current federal government operates a lot more out of Ottawa than the previous government. Our Ministers have to travel a lot more to Ottawa to meet with their counterparts and to advance our Federal Engagement Strategy and to promote the priorities of the Government of the Northwest Territories. As well, we have committed to increase public engagement, be it Cabinet meetings in regional centres and so on. That is the reason for the increase. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The Minister also talked about increases in travel. The travel budget, if you look further down on page 121, it is almost double back to 2017-2018. It is now $420,000. Even from last year, it was $170,000. That's a huge increase. Is this travel, then, related to trips to Ottawa and Cabinet having these open houses in various communities throughout the Northwest Territories? Is that what's happening here? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

That is correct, as well as government promotions in different sectors. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Is there any kind of a breakdown for how much is for trips to Ottawa versus travel within the NWT? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. These are costs that we have been trying to carry for the past three years, and every year we have exceeded the appropriation by an average of $344,000. We expect this to continue, if not increase, hence the addition to the main estimates. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. If there is that much over, why is there no difference, then, between the main and the revised estimates shown in the two middle columns, 2018-2019, for travel, or is this something that only shows up, then, in the public accounts? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.

Yes. Generally, the overages have been picked up by the departments which, in some cases, could possibly impact on delivering programs and services. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I don't have any further questions.

Thank you. Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Executive Council offices, operations expenditures summary, $4,281,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. Please turn to the final activity, Indigenous and intergovernmental affairs. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I realize that this is not the budget of the Government of the Northwest Territories, but on the radio today, the NWT Metis Nation was referring to their issue with getting funding for negotiations, money that usually comes from the federal government. I am wondering if our government is involved, in some way, in supporting the Metis to work with the federal government to try to get the money for continued negotiations. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Premier.