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

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Housing Corporation does go through the business planning process, and their documents are vetted by the relevant committee. Through that planning process, they will be subject to the four-year planning process that the Department of Finance is developing templates for right now, and that is how those values are tabulated, and then the money is run through the Department of Finance's budget. Ultimately, it will go through that same planning process and business planning process as every other department. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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

Thanks, Madam Chair. I want to move on to a different issue, if I can. This is the, I guess, part of the Department of Finance that is supposed to be administrative leadership for GNWT and so on. Presumably this is the part, the deputy minister's office, as well, that relates to the federal government. I have been after previous Ministers of Finance for some time now to raise the issue with the Canada Revenue Agency about the Northern Resident Tax Deduction. I know it was increased one time. Has there been any progress made on indexing of the Northern Resident Tax Deduction? Thanks, Madam Chair.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. The federal government's budget will be coming out, obviously, next month, and I think, in terms of the northern residents deduction, we will have to look and see what has been included there. I can assure the Member that I am alive to what he is raising and that we will continue to engage with the Department of Finance from the federal government to work toward the best possible value and outcome for the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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

Thanks, Madam Chair. I am glad to hear that the Minister is on this issue. The other one that has caused huge consternation for Northerners is the calculation of the lowest return airfare and the extremely high rates of audit that we seem to get subjected to. Has there been any movement on having the CRA actually fix the amount and tell people what it is so they don't have to try to guess about it? Has there been any progress made on that issue? Thanks, Madam Chair.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. We do engage regularly with the Canada Revenue Agency. I haven't had that opportunity to have that engagement as of yet, but I would assure the Member and commit to the Member that, when that opportunity does come up, I will raise at that point whether or not a more efficient system can be found to ensure that it saves time, really, for everybody. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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

Thanks, Madam Chair. Yes. I look forward to hearing back from the Minister when she raises this issue with her federal colleagues. I want to move on to a different issue that is Shared Corporate Services. This was sort of a new unit that was created within the Department of Finance to do a bunch of things across various departments. Previous Ministers had promised that there would be an evaluation done of how effective that function and centralizing those resources within the Department of Finance has gone. Can the Minister share that evaluation with us now? Thanks, Madam Chair.

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

Madam Chair, Shared Corporate Services is a communications function that is shared with the EIA, Executive and Indigenous Affairs. I wonder, though, if perhaps what the Member is seeking more information about is Information Shared Services System, which is a newer initiative and there is an ongoing evaluation process. If I could just confirm, Madam Chair?

Thank you, Minister of Finance. Member for Frame Lake, could you clarify what you are asking for, please?

Thanks, Madam Chair. The Minister is great because she has actually anticipated my next question. If we haven't done an evaluation on Shared Corporate Services, what kind of assurance can the Minister give me that the ISSS, or whatever we want to call it, is actually working as it has been touted? I want to know whether the evaluation was done on the Shared Corporate Services unit and if that can be shared with us. The next question, which she has anticipated, is: what is the evaluation framework for the ISSS, or whatever it is called? Thanks, Madam Chair.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Shared Corporate Services unit has not been subject to any sort of evaluation. Given the commitments that we have already made and the commitment of the Department of Finance specifically to enhance our evaluation services and programs, which we will be doing internally, I certainly can make the commitment to at least consider and look into whether or not this is the best opportunity and the best program to be starting with or one of the first to be starting with or if there are perhaps competing priorities. That is something that I can have further conversations with the Member about specifically to make sure that we are using our evaluation services in the most effective way possible.

With respect to the Information Shared Service System, ISSS, there is an ongoing evaluation. I think that specific program is reflected elsewhere in the mains, but for the sake of this question, there is a performance evaluation under way right now. It is not finalized. I don't have a final copy of it at this point. I certainly will provide it to this House when the evaluation is complete. It has only barely been a full year, if I am not mistaken, that it is been in operation and is still moving forward. The evaluation is being planned, and it will be conducted, I expect, within the next year with that information to come back to the House in due course. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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

Thanks, Madam Chair. I see the clock ticking down. I do have a number of other issues that I am going to raise in other sections. I am just going to give the Minister a heads-up: carbon tax reporting; Mackenzie Valley fibre link; revenues; and the Heritage Fund. I think most of those are found in other sections. That is all from me for now. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Are there any further questions on Department of Finance, directorate, key activity? If not, I will call this page. Finance, directorate, operations expenditure summary, $77,681,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you, Members. We will now turn to the human resources activity, beginning on page 141 with an information item and then the numbers on page 142. Are there questions on the human resources key activity? Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. One of the things that we have heard about in terms of human resources that has caused some concerns are the number of direct appointments. Can the Minister commit to provide a table showing the number of direct appointments by year and by department, say, for the last couple years, and if there is some overall rationale as to why direct appointments are done? That would be very helpful to get. Can the Minister commit to provide that and table it in the House? Thanks, Madam Chair.