Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I am wondering if, from the perspective of the Department of Finance, why it is important that the NWT Housing Corporation be a corporation? Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That, really, I anticipate, would be a question for the Premier and certainly all of Cabinet, not one that I am going to be in a position to answer here, but obviously, the matter can go to Cabinet in due course. That's a bigger conversation that, again, I have nothing else to unfortunately assist the Member with here today. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. The increases to the NWT Housing Corporation really are quite exciting ones, because they have to do with the co-investment fund, which we on this side of the House are very happy to see. Outside of the influx of money for the co-investment fund, does the Minister foresee increases to the Housing Corporation contribution beyond that? Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am, again, not entirely well-versed or well-placed necessarily to answer all of the details with respect to the Housing Corporation. Perhaps I could suggest if there is anything else within here that the deputy minister of Finance or secretary to the FMB might be in a position to provide some further detail, aside from getting to the Minister responsible. I will take it to the deputy minister for now, please.

Thank you, Minister. Deputy minister.

Thank you, deputy minister. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. One of the things that has come up quite frequently with committee is the conversation around travel. Now, this would be for everything to do with all of the divisions to have to do with the Department of Finance. Given that we are still in a pandemic and that many people are trying to only do essential travel outside of the Northwest Territories, does the Minister foresee actually using the department's travel budget during this fiscal year? Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The travel budget as it is approximately, over time, roughly over 80 percent of it tends to be Northwest Territories-based travel, and I do expect that travel within the territory will be increasing with more frequency over the coming months and certainly over this fiscal year as compared to last. With respect to the remainder or the other portion of the travel budget, certainly in the past, it has been a critical part of being able to attend to Ottawa, for instance, for FPT or federal-provincial-territorial meetings, which certainly have moved online. While I would like to hope that the situation with the pandemic changes, I have no ability to know what will happen with other provinces or territories. I do expect that there will be ongoing lapses in the travel budget this year, but at this point, without knowing what the full impacts of the pandemic will be, I don't expect that there will be changes to the base budget this year. Thank you, Madam Chair

Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. No, I appreciate that. I think that travel within the NWT is very important to continuing business with the people of the Northwest Territories, but I think it's also important that we make sure that, if the remaining 20 percent is not being spent, it is spent on things that are important to the people of the Northwest Territories.

My next question I am going to ask to the directorate section, even though it has to do with, again, all divisions of the Department of Finance. I note that the Department of Finance and specifically human resources is tasked with the Indigenous employment framework, and so I am wondering if the Department of Finance has set targets for Indigenous hiring and Indigenous staffing for this fiscal year. Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework certainly is being led by the Department of Finance. There were some delays over the last year going out and doing the consultation that was considered appropriate and necessary, but that is back on track now. I am just confirming, Madam Chair, but I believe that it's expected that this program will get underway this fiscal year. However, I don't have here in front of me, the exact date when we would expect to have that underway, so I don't have targets in place now. The idea with the framework is that the Department of Finance and human resources specifically works with each department, including our own, to set those targets and to see what to track over time and to set targets. As soon as I have targets, I can certainly commit to bringing those back to committee.

Thank you, Minister. Are there any other questions under the directorate? Member for Monfwi.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I am certainly alive to the date at issue. However, Madam Chair, I am simply a little bit hesitant to step in on a matter that really should be going to the housing Minister or to the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. What I would suggest to do is to take that back to my colleague and to make sure that we have an answer that is done in collaboration between finance and as well with the Minister responsible. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

Masi, Madam Chair. Obviously, we need to be provided with that detailed information. I know for a fact that there has been ongoing discussion with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, NWT Housing Corporation, and Finance, with the federal ministers. We are at a critical stage. We can say 17 years is a long time, but it's going to fly by. We are already into year one, over year one, of our term here, so I am looking forward to that detailed information because we need to have a plan now. No questions at this point, but I will look forward to the information that will be gathered for the Members here. Masi.