Thank you, Madam Chair. No, we don't do this currently. But I think it's a good suggestion that -- you know, I look at Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and they have a program called Skills 4 Success, which we participate in, by the way. We can work with our colleagues at Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment to see if there are ways that we can work within the governments to be able to look at that for -- going forward.

Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I appreciate that from the Minister. I think it would be a very powerful tool to be able to actively work to keep money in the Northwest Territories and work to fill those niches.

I'm wondering if Infrastructure tracks the percent of the workforce working on these contracts that are NWT residents. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the department, you know, we look at -- in 2021-2022, we had about 58 percent of our department infrastructures 584 staff positions are located outside Yellowknife; 51 located in regional centres; and we have some in other communities as well.

We do look at ways to -- sorry, I lost what the Member had asked. Thank you.

Member for Kam Lake, can you repeat what your question was.

Absolutely, Madam Chair. Thank you very much, and thank you to the Minister for directing it back to me.

I'm wondering of, for example, the $145 million that went to BIP companies or went out the door from infrastructure, if infrastructure tracks what percentage of the work is completed by NWT residents.

So sometimes a company might be a BIP company; it has an address in the Northwest Territories, but all of the workers coming in to do the work are coming from Alberta or somewhere else. And so one of the benefits is not just dollars going to an address in the Northwest Territories but dollars going to northern workers. And so I'm wondering if Infrastructure tracks their successes on that. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the vendor performance management falls within procurement shared services, and I believe that that's where it's tracked. I can confirm with the Member as well.

Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So my question was can the Minister tell me what percent of the work is performed my NWT residents from the Infrastructure Acquisition Plan. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to see if Deputy Minister Loutitt has further to this. I've got the numbers for the contracts, but I just want to see if he's got the number for that. Thank you.

Thank you. Deputy minister Loutitt.

Thank you, deputy minister. Member for Kam Lake.

Under the gun, Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we do within the Department of Finance track the GNWT contracts report. And I will send the Member a link because it gives us everything, all the tenders, sole source, negotiated contracts, RFP. It's actually a really helpful tool and very visual. So I can share that with the Member.

In terms of the apprentices, I'm going to see if Deputy Minister Loutitt can speak a little bit more about apprentice, because that's important. I mean, you know, some of the work we do within the Department of Infrastructure, we contract out, but you know, there's a process through procurement that we need to take into account for apprentices as well. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Deputy minister.

Thank you. Members, there's no further -- oh, Member for Thebacha.

First of all, Madam Chair, I just wanted to address the whole energy initiatives that are listed on this page, and you know, when we're coming out of a pandemic, I'm very much about larger projects. And you know, I look at the Taltson expansion, just the pre-construction, which means really little because by the time we get it done, I'm sure I wouldn't be around because I mean it's -- the way government moves, it's so slow. One phone call, one maybe every three months on it or something. And this is what I'm hearing from the communities.

And so, you know, it's troubling sometimes because, you know, the larger projects should be a priority instead of piecemealing all these other little things, and we're putting bad money there instead of to the project that's going to look after everything.

That's not the way business is done usually in the real world, but in a government world, I guess that's the way it is. And it's troubling sometime when I sit here, and I also want to make sure that we're talking about green energy here when we're talking about hydro. People talk about the environment and all these things. Well, what could be more greener than hydro power? And you know, we're going with Inuvik wind, and then we have electrified gas, and then we have two smaller hydro projects somewhere else, and we don't get the actual communities because it's in another document, and you forget after you read it, like, a couple months ago, and we haven't been here for a while.

I just want to say that overall, because 87 percent of this money comes from the federal government, I think it's a positive thing. I think that all the new procurement policy that's being put before us is going to address some of the benefits that we want from making sure that dollars stay in the North.

And, you know, I've always been very much about pro-development but balanced development. And as an aboriginal person and a former chief, I want you to also know, Madam Chair, that, you know, the environment has always been very close to all people in aboriginal backgrounds and cultures hearts. Just because I talk about business in a strong and whatever way, we also have to make sure that we also look after what we know from birth. And that's our water, our land, and everything around us.

I think that, you know, you have to have some big projects in order for us to expand and for economic growth and to make sure that we have monies in the future for the social envelope.

That's the way it works in the real world. It's just that it takes too long sometimes with government, and that frustrates me a bit because I've been very strong in business, and I'm used to doing things -- if I'm going to decide tomorrow that we're going to build this 20 some million dollar building in Fort Smith, I'm going to make sure that it's going to be done in two years, and it's done. I don't wait ten years for it.

It's very frustrating for me sometimes, but, you know, I try to accommodate all those things and understand that there's certain processes that we have to go through here.

And I just want to thank the Minister for a lot of these ones are here I think are great. It looks after all different areas in the North, and I think you're on the right track. I want to compliment you on that.

And that's all I have to say. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. No further questions or comments on this section. Infrastructure energy and strategic initiatives, Infrastructure, investments $115,252,000. Does committee agree?