Thanks, Madam Chair. I did have one question. It is about the Office of the Clerk. My colleague from Yellowknife Centre asked about starting to break down that figure, $704,000. Can the Minister tell us how much of that can be attributed to the legislative logjam at the end of the last Assembly? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Certainly, $155,000 is the amount that is resulting from expenditures that were on compensation and benefits as a result of some additional work, as well as, I believe, $270,000, which was similarly related to that. Although, that number actually includes a couple of different values, Madam Chair. I will have to break out that number and make sure that it reflects only what the Member is asking me, not further requirements. We are just doing some quick math, Madam Chair. Maybe the math might be even done. Yes, $270,000, Madam Chair, for the election and $279,000 also for the sitting days. Then there was some succession planning that is also included. One hundred and fifty-five thousand is included for succession planning. That should make up the total of $704,000.

Thank you, Minister of Finance. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Thanks for that information. I just want to get that on the record. That is the best rationale I have heard about not jamming up the legislative agenda at the end of an Assembly. It just about killed our staff and MLAs. We don't want to go there again. You have to incur these kind of costs. Let's try to work together to make sure that that doesn't happen. That is more of a comment. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. No further comments. I will go back to 2019-2020 Supplementary Estimates No. 4, operations expenditures, Legislative Assembly, Office of the Clerk, not previously authorized, $704,000. Does committee agree?

Legislative Assembly, statutory offices, not previously authorized, $440,000. Does committee agree?

Legislative Assembly, total department, not previously authorized, $1,144,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. We will now go to general comments on the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Is it possible to gain an understanding of how many more Income Assistance program clients this amount serves? Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do have a total number of clients that are served. If the request is more for the difference between the two, sorry, Madam Chair, I don't, unfortunately, have the number of actual increase in individuals receiving Income Assistance at this time. I have a number of approved applications here, which is sometimes not exactly the same. I certainly would commit to provide that to the Member and can provide a detailed breakdown of the increase year over year in terms of actual individuals who are receiving Income Assistance.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.

Sorry, Madam Chair. I missed if there was a commitment at the end of that sentence, as your head went down. Sorry. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Finance.

Yes, Madam Chair. I can commit to getting those, to the numbers of actual individuals receiving Income Assistance. We can break that down.

Thank you, Minister. Are there any further comments on the Department of Education, Culture and Employment? Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am looking at page 40 of the main estimates and the income security total amount is $54 million. Then now, I am looking here at the 2019-2020 total appropriation is $56 million. Sorry, 2021, going forward, we have ascribed $54 million. Yet, it appears the total appropriation for last year, this current fiscal we are in is $56 million. Considering we budgeted less than we actually spent, do we expect to see another supplemental appropriation for income security in the next fiscal?

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have the 2021 Main Estimates in front of me. What I can say is that the Income Assistance numbers do vary quite a bit from year to year. I do have five-year averages in front of me, and there is quite a bit of difference in variance year over year. There is an effort obviously made to review that and to make projections based on the best guess possible, but there is quite a bit of variance. As gas prices utilities go up, so do costs. As the economy changes, so do demands. I certainly cannot sit here and promise there won't be another supplementary appropriation sought for Income Assistance only, but if the Member wants to see the variance year over year, I certainly can provide that. That might be in terms of just demonstrating the wide variety that happens year over year and why we do wind up coming back on a supplementary appropriation specific to Income Assistance.

Thank you, Minister. If there are no further comments, does committee agree to proceed to the detail in the tabled document?