Thank you. I'm going to the Member for YK North.

Okay, so just to confirm that all costs that are retroactive have been included in these estimates that are coming forward for sups and that any forward-looking benefits wouldn't -- could be captured in the main budget going forward? There wouldn't be any benefits that need to be covered between now and -- between now and our approving the budget for the next fiscal year?

Thank you. I'm going to go to Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I think I do understand the question. So the sup here is only because the collective agreement was overdue in terms of being reached. So there was an amount owing under the collective agreement. Once it was finalized, that falls under this fiscal year. Only it wasn't built into the budgeting for the fiscal year because it was still being concluded. Now that that agreement's been concluded, we can bring it forward to the Assembly to reflect what the 2023-2024 total amounts would be. That collective agreement as it applies going forward will form part of the budget of Health and Social Services going forward which will be part of the main estimates that we'll see in May and June for 2024-2025. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from YK North.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So moving on to the agreements with the federal government, various agreements around health funding. Can the Minister clarify whether any of these agreements have resulted in carryover from previous years' funding being unspent?

Thank you. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm -- I suspect some. I mean, there's obviously quite a list of agreements here included and so some would and some wouldn't and the breakdown of that, again, I don't necessarily have that in front of me here but I could endeavour to get that. Thank you.

Thank you. YK North Member.

Is there an explanation for why even -- okay. So the first line item that is the largest amount, Canada-Northwest Territories Agreement to Work Together to Improve Health Care for Canadians, so why is this coming forward as a supplementary amount that wasn't planned for that is -- is it being -- something that's being done ahead of schedule, or can the Minister provide an explanation for why this is coming forward as a sup?

Thank you. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. For this one, and I believe for several of the others, the agreements were either signed for the first time or renewed after the time when the business planning process had been completed. And so in such cases where there's an expected or a change coming to an agreement, if it's being renewed or if it's obviously again a new agreement that comes after the business plan cycle while materials that are before the House for approval as part of the formal budgeting process, then it would come forward as a sup. That is, yes, dealing with a supplementary appropriation, that is one of the definitions of when the management board secretariat would then receive that request and recommend that it be approved because it precisely meets that definition of when a department should bring forward supplementary appropriation. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go back to the Member from YK North.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Final line of questioning here. Are these agreements public, or could they be made public so that we can all better understand, you know, what has been the amount of federal funding for each of these pockets over the years, what's being carried forward, what -- you know, what aspects are ending, what are the new agreements? Are any of the details around these agreements public or can they be public? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the agreements themselves are agreements with the federal government so the degree to which the agreement itself can be made public would be subject to what is in the specific clauses of the agreement, and they're federal government agreements that we are signing on to. So I anticipate that the agreement document itself probably has a clause in it that does not make it a public document. All that said, in terms of, as I said, you know, what numbers are subject to -- which ones are new agreements, which ones had carryovers, there certainly is some that can -- some details that can be provided in that regard. Details, for example, of what was agreed to between Canada and the Northwest Territories can be detailed. You know, what were the purposes of them, that can be detailed. And I can perhaps suggest that we sit down with the Member just to make sure that that is more clear. And I suspect my colleague from Health and Social Services would be in a position to support that. We certainly want to make clear to the public when we are benefitting from these additional dollars and what those dollars are meant to represent. It's just not necessarily the agreement itself. Thank you.

Thank you. Was there another question? Okay, no further questions. Any further questions from committee? Okay, I don't see any. Oh sorry, I'm going to go to the Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you for the indulgence. It's a very quick question. I heard when another Member was asking about the collective agreement that one of the witnesses said it's retroactive for five years. However, I just want to clarify the collective agreement is for five years but it should be retroactive for three fiscal years, is that correct, from 2021-2022 on? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, it's not entirely going back five years. I don't recall just off the top of my head if it's going back two years or going back three. But -- okay, here we are. So it's covering 2021-2022 through to 2025-2026. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Great Slave, is there a further question?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the collective agreement covers five years but the sup covers retroactive pay for three, am I right? Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister of Finance.