Page 11-30, fur marketing service revolving fund. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to seek consent to go back to page 11-25.

What page, Mr. Krutko?

Page 11-25, forest management.

Mr. Krutko is seeking consent to go back to page 11-25. Does the committee agree? Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My concern regarding forest management is the experience I have had in my region where the community of Fort McPherson and also Tsiigehtchic and Aklavik, they have these portable sawmills that they want to get into some sort of small-scale manufacturer of wood products. Yet nowhere in the department does there seem to be a real economic concentration on forestry as a potential business or industry like oil and gas or minerals.

Is there such a responsibility, or dollars available, to assist communities? Not only on the management of the businesses, but also having the resources or dollars there to assist people within that sector, especially in the small, isolated communities, to get involved in developing wood products in their communities?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there are a number of programs through our business development program, the BCC, Community Futures and so on, where anyone wanting to get into any business, including forest operations, could apply for assistance.

In terms of professional or technical assistance, then we would provide it either through an economic development officer or, if necessary, through our forest management section. It is not laid out as being specifically in forest management, but there is expertise we can make available. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, if you look in the budget under grants and contributions, there is $100,000. I would like to know exactly...it has been there for several years. Maybe the Minister could tell us who has been accessing these grants and contributions regarding forest management.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the $100,000 that appears in the budget is a holding figure we put in for disaster compensation in the event of a forest fire, someone loses a cabin or equipment. There have been a number of people over the years who have accessed it. If the Member wants to know who from the Gwich'in area, for example, have accessed it recently, we can provide that.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You have $29 million in this envelope, but you talk about managing the forest, you talk about fire suppression...we are spending a lot of money fighting fires, but we are not spending any money on the potential or development that can come from the harvest of the forest. We are spending $12 million a year fighting these fires, yet we are not getting any money back to come close to offsetting the cost of managing that forest.

I am just wondering if, maybe, it is a question about refocusing the responsibility of this department to seriously look at not only the management of the forest, but also considering the economic potential that forest has to develop jobs for communities and businesses and that it is done in such a way that it is done from the ground up where the small communities can take advantage of it.

We have a lot of costs associated with importing goods and services, especially wood products from southern Canada. Why can we not develop those products in the north in the communities and be able to market that product in the Northwest Territories, rather than just taking the raw log and shipping it to British Columbia or Alberta and have it milled in southern Canada?

Can the Minister tell me if that is a possibility within the mandate of this portfolio?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, that is definitely a possibility. We will take it into consideration as we prepare business plans for the next year. I might say that we have been, even though we do not have a section of the department that provides that kind of support directly, we have done a number of things to help the Gwich'in.

For example, we have been working with the Gwich'in renewable resources board, the Gwich'in Tribal Council and the community renewable resource councils to develop a forest management plan. That is underway now. We have provided training for the Gwich'in in scaling courses in Inuvik. We have sponsored Gwich'in to go to the First Nation Training and Forestry workshop in Winnipeg. We have cost-shared with Tsiigehtchic to send a community representative to a community protection workshop in Halifax. There is forest fire management as well, where we work with communities. There is quite a bit happening. I take the Member's suggestion seriously and it is something we will look at and see if we can coordinate with the department's business plan more. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to ask the Minister if he would consider expanding the amount of money that is presently under grants and contributions for communities who want to get into manufacturing of forest products, either through portable sawmills or what not, so it will generate employment in their small communities and they can offset the costs of having to import a lot of these goods and services. Is there a possibility of increasing the amounts in grants and contributions strictly earmarked for economic opportunities in small, isolated communities so they can develop a small, secondary industry around wood products?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we would be pleased to look at how we could do that. Again, I just want to underline that the $100,000 that appears here in grants and contributions is only for disaster compensation. There is money through BDF and other areas, but I will take the Member's recommendation and see if we can make it.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With the responsibility of the people in charge of forest management, we hardly see these people around. They are all based in Fort Smith at the forest fire centre, yet the forests of the Northwest Territories spread from the Alberta border to the Arctic Circle. I am just wondering, is there a possibility of redistributing the human resources in the forest management area to all of the different regions, so each region can work with these individuals who have the expertise who are based in Fort Smith and can be more associated with the communities and the clients who may be involved in the forest management area, rather than having everyone located in Fort Smith?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we have been going through the process of devolving responsibilities from headquarters in Fort Smith, Hay River, wherever, out to the regions. We have one position now in charge of forest management out of Inuvik, a fellow named Mike Gravelle. We also do regular visits from the forest fire centre to review last year's experience, to review this year's. We have a review team visiting Inuvik on July 10 and Tsiigehtchic on July 11. Thank you.