Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. One of the biggest areas where there is expected to be some changes -- well, I shouldn't say, one of the biggest areas. There are a lot of changes. One area of significant changes in terms of travel funding, obviously, there may well be a lot less travel occurring. That said, these are internal NWT Indigenous governments, so it may or may not affect how much travel is occurring. Short answer is: yes, but it's uncertain. I'm not in a position to say that it won't necessarily require the full $300,000. We can certainly commit to providing updates as the next few months come forward and we start to see exactly what changes in demands there have been for travel funding. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm hoping our government can help Lutselk'e in the Internet issues because, if the chief wants and the council want to communicate, it's going to be tough. I'll leave that as a comment. I'm glad that there's extra money allocated for this because it's important. Like I mentioned before, we sat at the roundtable, all the governments. We got together and sat together. There were a lot of concerns there, and I'm glad to see that we're actually showing some commitment there. Marsi cho.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. I'll take that as a comment. I will call the page again. Indigenous and intergovernmental affairs, not previously authorized, $300,000. Does committee agree?

Total department, not previously authorized, $300,000. Does committee agree?

We'll now turn to page 7. Committee, we will now proceed with the Department of Finance, and we'll proceed to the detail on page 7. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2020-2021, Department of Finance, operations expenditures, management board secretariat, not previously authorized, $36,840,000. Questions? Comments? Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm looking at the first line item to provide funding to respond to COVID, $23,400,000. I understand all of this money is essentially flow through, offset by the Government of Canada. I just want to clarify. Is this all money we've essentially already spent or programs that have already been announced, or is this new money? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is not new money at this point. This is money that's come in to date, and that has been provided, I believe, to the end of June. A mix of both planned and spent. I suppose it depends. If we're looking just at the first line item, the $23 million, that is a mix of on the planned and spent items coming in based on best estimates at this point of what's happening with COVID-19. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I guess my understanding is there are quite a bit of programs, and most of them are kind of all wrapped up in this money. We have spent it, or it's kind of already allocated. The big question is: is there more money expected to come? Do we have any plans to increase our COVID spending ourselves? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. As a starting point, Madam Chair, the federal government just this week announced a further $14 billion that they will be engaging all provinces and territories in order to determine the allocation of those different funds. I certainly am not in a position to say, right now, what proportion of that the Northwest Territories will get, only that we certainly will get some share of that. The initial money that we received was, again, part of really an emergency response. Most provinces and territories, and indeed, the federal government, are still really quite in an emergency response stage, albeit it may be evolving. These projections and the money that was received was based, as I say, in fact, on projections on where we were at and where we would be. I'm sure there is more money coming from the federal government. As I say, there is the $14 billion, but whether or not there will be more, I'm certainly not going to make any commitments on behalf of a different Minister and a different level of government. Will there need to be more money coming from the GNWT? "Probably" is probably the best I can say. It's just that at this point, how much? It is going to be difficult to estimate. Much of that depends on whether or not we wind up facing a second wave that is worse this fall or if it is less impactful and more mild, which certainly isn't the prediction right now from a lot of different corners. That will have a big impact on where we're at financially. I hope that's sufficient information. I see the Member still has some time, so there may be more questions coming. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. No. That's very helpful. I just wanted to clarify for the public's sake that, when this $23 million shows up, it's largely money that we've already spent. Moving onto the next line item there, the $8,700,000 for passenger airlines. When this was announced, it was said that it was kind of part 1 of negotiations, and there was a potential second half for our cargo airlines. A number of our airlines that supply our communities in the NWT are fundamental to our supply chain, and they were unable to access this money because they don't carry passengers. Can the Minister provide an update when we're going to see money for those airlines? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. The first round of funding was really directed and really driven at the large airlines that provide scheduled passenger services. We were able to use some flexibility and to receive some flexibility so that we could direct it at airlines more across the Northwest Territories, more broadly than just one or two, which is certainly beneficial and there is a breakdown that was provided to five different airlines. Now, negotiations have continued with Transport Canada regularly. There have been regular communications between the Department of Finance and, I believe, the Department of Infrastructure, as well, regarding airlines. Also, at the Finance Ministers' table and, I believe, probably with the Premiers' table, as well, all three territories are saying that airlines are different up here and we need more than just the passenger airlines, that they really are essential services providing cargo and medical, et cetera.

With that said, the latest word that we've had from Transport Canada is that they will be taking some time and that the funding that will hopefully be coming from them is not necessarily imminent. I'm happy to be surprised and to be wrong if that's not the case, but right now, it's not imminent. It's coming but not imminent, and they're still doing quite a lot of work in order to determine how much they'll be able to provide. That said, we're working internally, as well, right now. It's our hope that we won't be waiting necessarily for the federal government, but that the Department of Finance and the GNWT will be able to take some steps to fill the gaps that we know exist right now for other airlines in the territories. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm frustrated to hear that Transport Canada is taking their time, and I'm happy to hear that we are considering filling those gaps. I think a number of the communities, if they lose those cargo airlines, we're putting food security and a number of supply chains at serious risk. Lastly, I wanted to go to the third item here, the $4,740,000 for the $18-an-hour wage top-up for a 16-week period. My understanding is that we probably haven't spent all this money yet and people have to apply through their employer to get it. Does this money expire? Is this program dependent on people accessing it? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.