Thanks, Madam Chair. I lived through a previous commitment by the last Finance Minister to start tracking this, and clearly the work hasn't been done. I don't know what the problem is, but we need to have a systematic way of tracking why there is so much carry-over. Look, this government, this Cabinet has identified mega-projects, large infrastructure projects, as the way forward for our economy. I don't personally agree with that, but, if we can't get the money out the door -- because 40 percent carry-over from one year to the next, we need to know what the problem is, what the obstacles are, and start fixing it. I don't want a weak commitment. I want a strong commitment from the Minister that she is going to fix this problem. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Obviously, the priorities of the Assembly are the priorities of the Assembly and not only those of Cabinet. This is not the first time that I've had the chance to hear what previous Finance Ministers may or may not have done. I have no difficulty in saying that I am who I am, and I intend to follow through on promises that I make. Madam Chair, I have already gone through the process of asking the department why I see certain words over and over again, giving me general explanations. If there is an explanation, then we should be following through on it and fixing the problem. In some cases, there will not be an explanation other than we had an opportunity to take a lot of money from the federal government and we did take that opportunity. I think we'll be able to do a better analysis. Can I promise that we will solve every one of the bottlenecks in the next 12 months, given that we're going to be operating under a COVID challenge this summer in some capacity or another? Certainly not. I can certainly come back here in the future, when there are further carry-overs, because there will be further carry-overs, and be able to give a better analysis, project-by-project, as to why that is and where the bottlenecks are. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Are there any further general comments to the supplementary appropriations? Seeing no further general comments, we will move to the supplementary estimates by department. Committee has agreed to begin the review with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. I will now open the floor to general comments on the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures. I think that is on page 6. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Further to my colleague's point about the delay in getting infrastructure projects out, I see here a reference to the JH Sissons School planning study, which I would like to confirm, first of all, is complete. Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Madam Chair, I am not sure if the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment would know, in fact, if the planning is complete. I believe it is, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, would you be able to answer that?

Sorry, could the Member please repeat the question?

Thank you. Member, can you repeat your question?

Sure. Is the planning study for JH Sissons School complete?

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Right now, what's going on with the school is that all of the materials in the school have been removed in preparation for demolition. There is a contract in place for abatement and demolition, and there is a tender out for construction at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thanks for that, Minister, but that wasn't my question. My question is whether the planning study for the school is finished, and if so, why does it appear in this supp? Thanks.

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. When something is incomplete in the previous year, then it has to get carried over into this year in order to then be continued on with. Especially the Sissons school project, which is multi-year project, the funding that would be approved in one year still needs to get reapproved into subsequent years.

Again, I don't know exactly what stage the project is at, and if the Member wants a more specific answer, I can certainly turn this back to the Minister of education, but the overall school project is a multi-year project. For that reason, the funding will have to get reappropriated and reapproved, since the project itself is not complete at this point in total, but I don't know the specific stage of where it is at at this moment. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you Minister. Member.

Thanks. I did notice that the construction contract is now on offer, and it was my understanding that the construction was supposed to start this fall. Is that a reasonable time to vet and award the contract and have the construction start, by this fall? Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My understanding is that that is still the plan.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

I wonder if this contract is, in fact, coming out later than was anticipated and there is some slippage in the timing on this project. Can the Minister speak to that, please?

Thank you, Member. Minister.