Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. That kind of changes, I guess, some of my questions. And I understand that this is a privacy concern between employees and supervisors. But is there a mechanism for, then, the Department of Finance to be able to blindly sort that information from NWT service providers or through, because I'm assuming that this is getting logged under short-term disability instead or long-term disability, is there a mechanism from either insurance providers or healthcare providers where this can be blindly provided to the GNWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, that's an interesting question that I'll have to take away. It may well be that the vital statistics is tracking some information or receiving information more broadly about the impacts of mental health on mental health pre- and post-pandemic. It may be of some assistance or of some interest that interestingly GNWT employees, as I said we are tracking the total numbers and we're actually using less sick days, less leave without pay days than in prior fiscal years. Pre-pandemic, we were at 9.1 days in the 2018-2019 but current fiscal right now, coming to the end of it, we're at only an average of six. And I can also say, perhaps I'll provide the Member directly, I do have a list of the number of accesses to some of the various mental health programs that the GNWT runs and the numbers there. So I will provide that separately, and that may well lead to some more discussion. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Yes, thank you very much, Madam Speaker. And no, I thank the Minister for the willingness to have the offline conversation. And I think it'll be interesting as well to see that in the year -- or, the fiscal year we're going into now, now that public servants are back to their workplaces and we're coming to the potential end of the public health emergency, it'll be interesting to see how that has an impact on sick days going forward, and really if people being able to have the opportunity to work remotely has an impact on sick days that are being logged.

I know that in other workplaces, public health and safety, in addition to occupational health and safety, is something that a lot more employers are talking about. And so I'm wondering if this is a conversation that's currently occurring within the Department of Finance within the responsibility of an employer to monitor, support the psychological health and safety, especially coming out of a pandemic, of their workers and public servants in the territory? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm conscious of time on this one, I have to admit. Yes, I'm struggling with where to start.

So we have quite a number of programs that we do provide to employees, some that were introduced to -- as additional items in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. I think really, though, Madam Speaker, this is a much bigger issue. I can say that I had inquired with the department and the conversation around morale which is related perhaps in part, though certainly doesn't encompass everything that I know is specific to mental health but about that wellness of employees, the wellness of public servants, the impact of being asked to do more through a pandemic when they were suffering themselves at home and working through conditions that were not normal.

So I know that the Department of Finance is right now taking on the effort to bring that into our human resources plan, looking at some initiatives around new training that can help to better identify that wellness, that psychological wellness in a workplace. There's literally work out right now to try and see what we can bring in in that regard. So short answer is yes, the conversations are occurring, and I am hopeful that I'll be able to report back to this House some more information about what that's going to look for the future of the public service. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Can you put me back on the list for an additional Minister, thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I got a question for the finance minister. I was just reviewing your 2022-2023 budget, and in the budget it talks about grants from Canada. And I'd like to ask the Minister if she's able to maybe talk about the grants from Canada and perhaps break it down further because I'd like to know how the money's coming in and how is it broken down. Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, there's different types of grants that we get from the Government of Canada. I mean, it's obviously a pretty excellent question here for budget session and being day 2 of having just received our -- the budget speech. So I'm trying desperately to find my summary of revenues, Madam Speaker. I have it in front of me now.

So the biggest grant we get from Canada, the territorial formula financing. That is really the backbone of what forms our budget. But there's others in there that I think perhaps don't always get the same attention and may be less well understood.

There is, of course, also the social health transfer. That involves a lot of the social programs over in ECE and health. And there's other health programs. The DIF transfer that also helps support a lot of what happens over at the Department of Health. But, Madam Speaker, then there's also all the infrastructure contributions. So when we get infrastructure contributions, that too comes into the revenues that we are seeing here in the operations budget, and that then goes to help pay some of the infrastructure projects we have on the go. And then there's no doubt many other smaller projects that come in that come in as grants and supports from the federal government.

So that's my two second breakdown, and I'll be happy to talk about that more. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Can the Minister also explain as the grants contribution comes in and it's broken down, normally you would have to do a reporting on those grants or contributions back to the Government of Canada. When that happens and we go ahead and spend the monies here in the Northwest Territories, we also put policies in place when we try and help our people in our communities. So if you could help me understand and explain how you report this back to Canada, and when you get this money from Canada is there policies attached to it when it comes to the Legislative Assembly? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And Madam Speaker, so individual departments, of course, will have the reporting obligations to their counterparts in the federal government. And as we go through the review department by department, starting I think later today, we'll have -- I would certainly encourage everyone in the House to engage exactly in that dialogue of, you know, what is that we have to report back to the federal government on, what is perhaps the nature of that reporting, and, you know, always open to having the conversation about whether we are providing enough information as is available publicly but also, you know, what is the kind of relationship we have with the federal government as will be reflected in the dollars that come in. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Yes, thank you for that response. I was reviewing the budget for our riding, for the Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh riding, and this year -- our allocation for this year is about 3.4 million.

Madam Speaker, I guess I'm concerned about that number when we really need help in our communities, whether it be internet services, which is really slow in Lutselk'e, dust-free roads in the community of Lutselk'e. That's just to name a few. And then now, you know, I am hearing that we need to improve the winter road and barging season so we can provide essential services into the community of Lutselk'e. So I don't know how consultation's taking place with communities, and how did we arrive with these numbers? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, so the budget, of course, isn't drawn up on a per capita basis. It's not per 33 communities divided up by 33. There are occasions, for example with MACA's budget, where of course Members may want to ask about the specific dollars that go into a community. But for most departments, a lot of what happens is territory-wide. So, for example, education or health is delivering services that may be regional. They may be delivering services that are, you know, done in a headquarters. There are services that are done -- planning communications that are done that benefit all of the territory and can't quite be divided out. You know, even some of the large infrastructure that we put into place, Madam Speaker, there's projects that benefit, you know, multiple regions or, indeed again, when we're talking about significant roadways crossing different ridings and indeed benefitting projects up in the Beaufort Delta help Yellowknife in that it grows the overall economy of the Northwest Territories. So the budget isn't drawn up riding by riding. But that level of detail, I'm very confident will come out over the next couple of weeks to understand what the individual benefits are to each and every community but hopefully to each and every member of the Northwest Territories as residents and as businesses. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I guess what I wanted to say is thank you for that response, and I'm probably going to spend the next few days probably to understand the budget that's been put before us here as well. But I want to look forward to work with the Minister of Finance as to how we could look at our budgets for the Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh riding, and I want to let her know that we have some big issues there. We want -- housing's a big issue. Affirmative action's a big issue. Hiring policies is something that's been talked about in our region. So it may be within the next day or two I would like to sit down with you, if we can, and just see what we can do to work together to resolve these issues. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, I don't know that there could be a better set of first questions, certainly not coming to me.

---Applause

That's a statement about consensus government. That's how we do government here. We're going to sit down, and that's where the consultations take place, is that we sit down, we talk, we learn from each other, and I am very happy to do that. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Okay, question for the Minister of Health and Social Services, that the department tracks the NWT health profile of its residents to understand public health issues that impact the whole population. The information gather is to provide decision-makers the information they need to take actions. With that in mind, can the Minister provide an update on action taken in Tlicho region to address the poor health outcome in my region? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister for Health and Social Services.

Yes, thank you very much, Madam Speaker, and I appreciate the question from the Member for Monfwi.

The provision of Health and Social Services in the Tlicho region is delivered by the Tlicho Community Services agency. They create their own budget based on their own process, and they submit it to me for approval. I've recently received the budget for the next fiscal year. I haven't yet reviewed it. But I certainly will be doing so. What I suggest is that the Member speak to the board of the Tlicho Community Services agency about how to address the needs that she has in mind to improve the social determinants of health. Thank you.

Thank you for the answer. She is the Minister of Health and Social Services, so that's why I was addressing.

Can the Minister report on any progress achieved to reverse the poor health trends in the Tlicho region since the report was tabled over two years ago?

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, this is an unusual occurrence, but I'm not sure which report the Member is referring to. But if she can tell me which report, then I can certainly come back to her with a response. Thank you.

Yes, thank you. That is the GNWT Health Status Report that was published in fall of 2019 which I tabled two days ago, and that's their own report that I am addressing. So that's why I'm asking what are they doing to fix the problem. Do they have any action plan? Do they have any -- what do they have? What are they doing to fix things in our region? Or not just in my region but in other regions as well, and which we heard from other Members addressing their issues.

So Madam Speaker, if the GNWT was to allocate their budget based on need, we should be seeing improvements in health outcomes over time, but this does not appear to be the case for people in my regions and other groups as well, because the problem have been addressing -- Members have been addressing the problems here.

Can the Minister explain how a budget to address health outcomes are allocated? How is the department assessing the needs of community and responding with appropriate levels of funding to address those needs? Thank you.