Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’ll be voting in favour of this motion. I think if the Minister talks about a plan…. Well, this is our way of helping you with the plan, by making sure the money’s there for those positions. I’d like to think we’re doing our part by helping the Minister and the department. If they’re unable to fill them, I mean, heck, the money

will just lapse and nothing will change. The issue of what we’re doing is making sure that’s available.

My suggestion, of course, is to back up…. I should say I support local training of potentially either one person, or two people, obviously, in this situation. The problem I see is that it’s difficult to, all of a sudden, tell someone, whether they’re from southern Canada or somewhere in the NWT, to just show up in these communities and, all of a sudden, “You’re now a community member.”

It’s a challenge to move into these areas. I would hope that a lot of weight is put to possibly finding a couple of responsible people in that area and seeing if they’d be interested in training, and maybe we could mentor them into these types of positions. It’s always been my experience that if you can find someone from an area, if they have some type of roots and reason to be there, they’ll probably stay there for life if we’ve given them that opportunity.

People are always appreciative of having a job and feeling as if they’ve made a contribution. I think these jobs are the types of things that would allow that. These communities are hard enough to staff, as emphasized already, and I think every government opportunity in there helps. Government-paying jobs help these small communities get through. The challenge there is, of course, keeping employment in the community, but getting employment is just as hard as keeping it there. I’ll be supporting this, recognizing the struggle some of these small communities go through.

Thank you,

Mr. Hawkins. To the motion, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will also support the motion. I believe in the program or idea of bringing a renewable resource officer 1 to the community level, especially in the smaller communities, where the workload isn’t there for a full-time renewable resource officer position but there is need for a renewable resource officer in the community. Renewable resource officers are not able to travel into these communities frequently enough. With the $500,000 or so that has been reduced in the overall travel for the department, I’m assuming the trips into Sachs Harbour and Paulatuk will decrease even further.

Also, I think the concept of a renewable resource officer 1 is almost like a patrolman, as they used to refer to them in the olden days. Yeah, the olden days. They become very valuable to the actual renewable resource officer who is travelling in from Inuvik who may or may not know the area around Sachs and Paulatuk where the patrols may be necessary. So I will support the motion.

Thank you,

Mr. Beaulieu. To the motion, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think it was the Minister’s comments to the motion that actually helped me make up my mind on this one.

I think the positions are important. It’s unfortunate they’re vacant. But given that the department’s already looking at creating a training plan, it would seem kind of pointless to get rid of the positions you’re going to train somebody into. I would suggest that getting rid of the positions might not be timely. If you are going to do the training, you might as well use the money from the positions to hire the trainees and, therefore, utilize the money in that capacity.

And just as a note, years ago we had this lovely program called the Public Service Career Training Program, which was a competency-based, on-the-job training program. I remember vividly that there are renewable resource officer training competency profiles and training plans in there which, with minor work, could probably be brought forward, tweaked and ready to go in really short order, which means you might as well start hiring now.

Thank you. Mr. Krutko. To the motion.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair. I will be

supporting the motion. I believe that, you know, we do have capable people in these communities. We have people involved in the renewable resource boards in our communities. Also, there is a program, through the Natural Resources program through Arctic College, where people have graduated through that program and can slide into these types of positions.

I think it’s important that we do everything we can to enhance the presence of renewable resource staff on the ground. We’re talking about, you know, challenges we’re facing in regard to the numbers dropping by way of migratory species, in regard to caribou. We’re talking about different problems we’re seeing with global warming and the question about polar bears and things like that.

I think this is just as important as someone sitting in the office in Yellowknife. If anything, it’s probably more important for those people who go out on the land and depend on these people as guide support services, and also to assist in the harvesting that takes place in our communities.

I think this position is vital to the community, considering it’s only $180,000 for two positions. I’m not too sure if, looking at so-called specialist positions we talked about earlier for somewhere around $600,000…. I think that shows our priorities

aren’t in the right place. So with that, I will be supporting the motion.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. I have nobody further. Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair. My

colleagues covered off the motion quite thoroughly. I’m going to ask for a recorded vote at this time.

Thank you,

Mr. Jacobson. Question has been called, and the Members have requested a recorded vote. All those in favour, please stand.

All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand.

The results of the recorded vote on the motion: nine in favour, zero opposed, and seven abstained. The motion is carried.

Motion carried.

We return to 11-31, Wildlife Operations. Mr. Krutko.

I just have a question. I noticed that where you talk about the description, it talks about the Wildlife activity that also works in cooperation with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, who provide expert advice, contacts and experts to support traditional economies. I know that was one of the issues we brought up in the report: that the committee seriously take a look at those traditional economies, especially in regard to renewable investments.

We seem to focus a lot on the non-renewable aspects of mining, oil and gas and whatnot. I think we do really poorly when it comes to the renewable aspects, in regard to harvesting, commercial fishing, agriculture, forestry. I’d just like to ask the Minister on that statement: what are you doing along with Industry, Tourism and Investment to enhance the renewable industry in the Northwest Territories, especially in the area of harvesting, big game, and also looking at the commercial aspect of the renewable potential we have in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Bohnet.

I believe we’ve got to do more than just promote. I think we have to invest.

I know that in the past they used to have programs called special Arctic grants, grants for that which were part of the economic development agreement we had with the federal government. There were a couple of hundred thousand dollars in that program, which was very successful in regard to people being able to harvest and apply for different programs under the special Arctic programs. I’m just wondering: is that something that’s being looked at between this department and ITI and also in regard to federal programs to see if we can track some of those dollars?

We hear about programs in Atlantic Canada. There’s an Atlantic economic diversification program, where there’s money to help out with the fishery industry. We hear about programs in regard to the provinces, in regard to the farm industry, cattle industry, but there’s very little by way of us pushing our own program in the North to promote renewable resource industry in the Northwest Territories and also dealing with the agriculture industry. I’d just like to know: are we doing anything to develop a program that will have program dollars involved so people can apply for programs to assist in the renewable resource sector?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you,

Mr.

Chairman. My understanding is that ARDA

predated what we now have, which is called the Western Harvester Assistance Program. It has been there, I think, for a number of years and been drawn down by many eligible aboriginal governments. As well, maybe Minister McLeod would like to speak to the discussions that have been ongoing with the federal government about

other support the federal government may be able to provide us in this particular area. But at this point it’s the western harvesters fund that is the mainstay.

I understand the program has been there since 1999, after division. It was $15 million. Again, it is matching funds: people have to come up with the money to match the GNWT money. In most cases those harvester dollars are an application-based program. Again, it does not deal with the aspect of commercialized harvesting: commercialized harvesting of fish, commercialized harvesting of wildlife, commercial harvesting by way of agricultural products in the Northwest Territories.

The harvesters program is not designed for what I’m asking for. I’m asking for nothing less than what’s been offered in Atlantic Canada: a western diversification program in regard to western Canada. I believe 1994 was the last time this government had an economic development agreement with Ottawa to look at economic dollars. Yet every other jurisdiction in Canada has it, and we don’t. It’s time we went to Ottawa and made Ottawa aware they are offering something to the rest of Canada that we’re being excluded from. Again, we’re putting a lot of emphasis and money in regard to the oil and gas and mining industries, in regard to training and investment, and also looking at the secondary aspects of the non-renewable industry, but very little by way of the renewable industry. We have to call a spade a spade. We don’t have an economic development agreement with Ottawa.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Currently we have the SINED program, with special initiatives for northern economic development. That’s a program with the federal government that involves the three northern territories and provides $6 million a year for each territory for five years. That program is slated to go until it ends, after 2009. We have approached the federal government to indicate the need for a replacement program.

The SINED program is different from previous economic development agreements. The Member is correct: we went through a period of nine years where the Northwest Territories, or the northern territories, were the only regions in Canada that didn’t have a regional economic development program. We agree it’s very important to have a regional economic development program. We’ve looked at joining the Western Diversification Fund. We will expect to be having discussions with the federal government.

With regard to the fur industry, I think the Northwest Territories probably has the best program in all of

Canada. We’re the only territory of any province or territory that provides funding to assist harvesters and also to introduce youth to trapping. We also have introduced a market gardening process whereby we help the smaller communities develop vegetable gardens. We make farm machinery available for interested locals to develop gardens, and we will be working with the agriculture community.