Mr. Bob McLeod.
Debates of March 1st, 2002
This is page numbers 277 - 299 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairman.
Topics
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Bob McLeod
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are at the very preliminary stages at this time. We are envisioning about a five to six million dollars a year study. That is what we are looking at initially. We are proposing that it be cost-shared between the federal government and aboriginal governments, similar along the lines of the West Kitikmeot study, and industry would contribute as well. However, we are very preliminary. There are no confirmations or commitments by anybody at this stage. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Bill Braden Great Slave
Thank you. I guess I have to read that this is contingent, pending the involvement or the commitment of other partners. Would the $349,000 proposed here be held in abeyance or not spent if there was no agreement on how to go forward with our partners? I am wondering what the nature of the commitment is to spending this money, regardless of whether or not there are other people involved. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Bob McLeod
Thank you. It is our intention to use this money to do research in our areas of responsibilities. If nobody else wants to participate, then we would do research and gather baseline data in areas like wildlife and so on, which is within our area of responsibility. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Bill Braden Great Slave
So it may not be spent on a biophysical study? The department is saying they want some discretion in how that money would be spent, if I get that reading right.
A bit of a flag is going up in that context, Mr. Chairman, in that projects are being proposed in one way and yet, if some arrangement does not come to pass, then the money may be spent in another way without a lot of information or detail coming back to us. I support the intention as the department has outlined. I would just indicate a caution to the department to be more forthright in stating the terms or conditions under which money is proposed. It just gives me more confidence that when I vote for a certain pot of money, I have enough information to know where it is really going to go. I will leave it at that, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Bob McLeod
Thank you. I want to make sure the Member understands there are some areas of responsibility with the West Kitikmeot Slave Study that we are still wrapping up on. In particular, there is some traditional knowledge work that is ongoing with some of the communities, like Lutselk'e and the Dogrib communities and the Inuit communities, in this period. They are looking at this as a transition year. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
The Chair David Krutko
We are dealing with contributions, total contributions $11,010,000. Mr. Dent.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is not a big expenditure, but I was just wondering why would a grant to the Great Northern Arts Festival be handled through RWED, instead of through the usual arts and culture grants process in Education, Culture and Employment?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Bob McLeod
Thank you. Every year since the arts festival has started, we have been approached for funding. The way we are set up in our department where most of our monies are in the regions, we would have to approach all of the regions and cobble this money together. We have decided this year to put it in one central location and that it would be committed. Essentially, we use this money for acquisition of raw materials that is used at the festival. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. By the way, I support the grant to the festival. My question is still why is this coming through RWED and not through ECE, which usually does the grants to festivals?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Bob McLeod
My understanding is that RWED contributes because we are promoting tourism. For that reason, we are contributing our share. Education contributes theirs as well and they contribute a larger amount than we do. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 290
Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For legislators and the public reviewing the main estimates, I think it would be good if we could see the amounts together so that we had a clear picture of how much is going out in grants to organizations. Personally, I would prefer to see this coordinated through one or the other agencies. In my mind, it makes more sense going through ECE. Then we would have one number that everyone would know how much the government's contribution was to the organization.
Like I say, it is not a big deal and I think that everybody supports the idea of the festival. It is just a question of reporting it and making sure the public understands where the money is going.
One other thing I would like to comment on, Mr. Chairman, just briefly is to congratulate the Minister and the department for the significant increase in the tourism industry marketing contribution. That is an extremely welcome contribution, long overdue, seeing this kind of investment in tourism promotion. I hope the department and the Minister will continue to look for opportunities to better promote tourism in the Northwest Territories. I think we have tremendous potential here and unfortunately, we have tremendous, unrealized potential. Whatever we can do to increase our marketing efforts, I am certainly supportive of. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 291
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 291
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I take it as a comment. I think it is encouraging, that support. For many years, the tourism industry did not receive the kind of support we are providing today. Hopefully with that, we will see more businesses and more people taking advantage of taking up this part of tourism, this part of the sector in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 291
The Chair David Krutko
Thank you, Mr. Minister. We are dealing with grants and contributions, total contributions, $11,010,000.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 291
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 291