Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, certainly, work can continue with the consent of the union. We only just received the notice of bargain, I was going to say last month, but not quite; I believe it was in December. It hasn't been that long since that's occurred. I do very much believe in the importance of maintaining a good working relationship with the union, so any next step would have to involve consulting with them before any kind of other commitments could be made.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am also looking at the department's business plan, and I see that this May-June session, we were supposed to see the Status of Women Act updated. I don't believe we have seen the legislative proposal for that yet, but can I just get confirmation of whether that work is on track? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That item, Madam Chair, falls under the women's directorate and the Minister responsible for the Status of Women. I expect that the committee's position on the best location for that is, in fact, that it should be over in the executive and not in finance, Madam Chair. Meanwhile, it just so happens that, as Minister responsible for the Status of Women, I can say that there is work under way on the act, and I can commit to getting confirmation of whether or not it will be on target to be introduced as planned. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Are there any further questions under the directorate? Seeing none, please turn to page 141. Finance, directorate, operations expenditures summary, 2021-2022 Main Estimates, $82,789,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. We will take a five-minute break.

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Page 144, with information items on page 146. Questions? Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. In the department's business plan and in the mandate, there are a number of issues related to increasing capacity in the healthcare system, and there is a specific health recruitment unit. Can I just get clarification whether that lies in the Department of Finance HR or in Health and Social Services? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The health recruitment unit that is being described is a joint partnership between the Department of Health and Social Services and the human resources branch of the Department of Finance. They have the expertise in terms of what is actually required and the human resources has the expertise in terms of human resources recruitment and retention planning, so yes, it is both, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I recognize that reconciling human resources into one area in the GNWT makes sense, but I think, when I speak to a lot of people in the health authorities, there has been frustration in the past with human resources and there has been frustration about having not-nurses hire other nurses and not having healthcare professionals having had that expertise. I recognize that's exactly what this joint unit is trying to remedy, but is there any consideration to giving the human resource capacity back to the health authority? Thank you, Madam Chair.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. By doing this joint project, that is really meant to alleviate both sides of a concern, which is to ensure that staffing processes remain fair and compliant with best practices and with transparent processes, while also ensuring the expertise within the client department, in this case the health department. Hopefully, if the unit does achieve the targets that are being set to increase recruitment and retention of healthcare workers, then perhaps that is a question that I will be coming back to in time as to, if this is, in fact, successful, what that might mean for others who may have staffing challenges. For now, hopefully we are, in fact, accomplishing exactly what the Member has identified as a challenge. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Are there any other questions? Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. I had a quick question about labour relations in the Public Service Act. Is it okay if I ask that question here, Madam Chair? Marsi cho, Madam Chair. I know a lot of my colleagues here on this side, we talk about LPs and moving things along. We don't want to have what happened in the last Assembly where they had a whole slew of last-minute legislation that we had to go through, and I started to see a trend here where we're kind of slipping on some of our LPs, in my opinion. Just looking at the Public Service Act here, can the Minister just give us an update on how that's coming along and just give us some timelines of when we can expect to see some of this LP come along through the House? Marsi cho.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is a particular act where there had been quite a lot of work done a few years ago, back in 2017, and a fair bit of engagement done with employees and stakeholders, and there were already materials being drafted under a "what we heard" type of approach. Of course, an update was done last summer, again, as an update, not a complete full further review or survey but an update to the work that was done only two or three years before that, and consultations throughout with the union, the UNW, as well.

However, as I just mentioned earlier, it was on track and a lot of work was being done, but then, when we do receive the notice to bargain, there does need to be a pause. As I mentioned earlier, it is possible, if both parties are willing, to continue ongoing engagement and work toward getting materials ready, but having just received the notice of bargain right before, if I'm not mistaken, the winter break, the winter shutdown, I realize that's now roughly a month ago or just a little over a month ago. What I will do is follow up and ensure that we are taking steps to have that engagement. It may well be that it is simply not going to be feasible, while the negotiations for collective agreement are under way, to advance that work, and that might be quite reasonable for either party to take that position. Nonetheless, because of the work that has been done a few years ago and this summer, whether it's by agreement or whether it's at the conclusion of a new collective agreement, I'm confident we will get this work back on track. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. Thank you for that little bit of clarity, there. What I'm thinking right now is if the Minister could give us some just rough timeline, given what she just explained to me, and how this would be rolled out to the eventual introduction of the bill? Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.