Thank you, Mr. Campbell. Ms. Bisaro.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I’m sorry if I missed the question earlier. If you’ve already covered that, my apologies.

My next question would be, there is some interest, I believe, in the Sahtu of potentially developing a wood pellet industry there. If the inventory hasn’t been completed in an area where somebody wants to develop a pellet industry, is that something that the department has the resources to do within a short period of time, to try and encourage a business to get established? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Given the way these projects seem to evolve, we believe we would be in a position to be responsive and be able to have that information by the time it’s required to make a business decision. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister for that information. That’s good to hear.

My other question has to do with communities and what I think the department calls wild land fire risks. My recollection is that there were assessments of wild land fire risks around communities that were being done. I guess I would like to know two things. Have all the communities been assessed in terms of wildlife fire risk? I’ll start with that.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. For that we’ll go to Mr. Campbell.

My brain automatically said, so why not all communities? But I totally understand why we’re not doing them all.

I guess my next question would be, in relation to the plans, if the assessments have been done, presumably the department is assisting communities to develop a plan to reduce risk if there is any. Are plans being implemented in the communities where these wildfire risk assessments have been done?

I appreciate the work that you’re doing and I think it’s really valuable work. I’m sure the communities appreciate it as well.

If there is a community that feels that they need to get some assistance from ENR, if they feel that they aren’t quite sure what they need to do, or they have a particular plan that they want to put in place, is it conceivable that they can go to ENR and ask for that assistance and presumably get it in fairly short order? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. For that we’ll go to Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is a modest pot of money available to work with communities for risk management plans implementation. I would point out, as well, this is another area where personal responsibility is a big one and we, as well, encourage homeowners to make sure that their underbrush is clear, the trees are limbed, their house has as few flammable exterior products as possible, in addition to reliance on governments to come in and make sure the communities are fire smart.

We’re also doing a number of creative things, working, for example, in Fort Smith. They’re working with Transportation and they’ve opened up all the area around the airport for wood lots, as part of that FireSmart Program, which is a great boon to the wood burners in the community and it helps thin out the brush that otherwise Transportation wouldn’t be able to afford to do. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Moving on with questions I have Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Chair, I have a few questions in this area here. I want to start with the climate change and the impacts that we’re seeing in the Sahtu region. I’ve talked to a few of the trappers who use the land consistently, and what they have talked to me about is the erosion of the banks along some of the rivers that they go up to hunt and trap in, go up to live during the summer months, and the rivers that they use during the fall time for their fall

hunts. They’re noticing the erosion of the landscape, of the banks and of the hills, and they were asking if there is any possible way that the department is working with the local hunters and trappers on that river, because some of these rivers for the natural erosion that’s happened due to the thawing of the permafrost in that area.

Is the Minister conducting a territorial-wide assessment or a survey on which rivers in the Mackenzie area or just in the whole Northwest Territories on the amount of erosion that’s happening on the smaller rivers that the trappers use for hunting and trapping?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. For that we’ll go to Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are some resources. Interestingly enough, ITI has a permafrost individual. We know and we’ve seen, and I’ve had discussions with and work with, to a certain degree, the university is doing work as well. In fact, some individuals have spent good parts of their professional lives in the North looking at the permafrost issues, the very issues that the Member is talking about. As we see what’s happening and try to adapt to the impacts of the warming and the melting of the permafrost, the slumping of the banks, the impediment, it can cause rivers and creek flows and adjustments of bodies of water.

So we are looking at that but we don’t have a broad territory-wide initiative at this juncture. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. I am wondering if there is anywhere in your corporate planning, or planning for the department, to start looking at this. It’s very preliminary right now. I am asking for some consideration.

The Minister, over the past eight or nine years, is aware of myself taking a hiking trip once a year on the Canol. Over the years, I want to let you know, the Minister flew out there one year with me. We saw some natural slides of the mountains. Last year or the year before, when you walked past one of the trails, there was a huge mudslide there. It wasn’t there before. We started to notice it more and more.

I want to ask the Minister if he would give some serious consideration, with his colleagues, to look at the impacts of these landslides along the rivers that we use – and basically the whole Northwest Territories, if that is a possibility – that he would come forward to say that this is something we could look at in the Northwest Territories.

We are making note of the Member’s request. We will have discussions in the department to talk about how we move forward on the request and the concern. We will be able to come back. By the time we’re back here next year, we will hopefully see some

reflection of the results of that work and discussion. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I would appreciate that and people that have spoken to me about this would also appreciate that the government is starting to look at this issue.

I also want to ask the Minister in regard to what Ms. Bisaro was talking about, the opportunities that could be looked at in the Sahtu. I understand, from Mr. Campbell’s replies to our question, that the Sahtu and further north could be looked at as a biomass industry opportunity for us in that region, if we are to embark on that journey through the government’s energy initiatives on reducing the cost of living and carbon emissions from the fossil fuel usage of our communities’ use. The Sahtu would be very interested in looking at something that we could do ourselves, as some of my friends down in the southern part have that opportunity. We would very much like to look at that.

Would the Minister commit to look at a study that would say, within the life of this government we can initiate something in the Sahtu and further north up into the Gwich’in area?

I do look forward to a time when this opportunity also will be available in the Sahtu region. We will continue on with the progression to that place and time in history where we can also have that type of industry with our region to support the biomass initiative, because that would be very helpful to us. So a wait and see approach, I guess.

I want to ask one more question to the Minister in regard to the forest management for the sustainable management of our forest resources. Trappers are saying that where there are good areas to trap, sometimes those areas get burnt out because sometimes they are too far out for the firefighters to fight them, because they watch the fires burn. Sometimes the trappers say that is a good trapping area. Sometimes they can’t go, so next year they have to go to another area, knowing that, because of the forest fire there, that will renew

the forest and vegetation, and there are other animals that will come. The trappers want to know that dialogue will continue strongly with the forest officers, that some areas just need to be monitored a little more, and consideration is given to the trappers when an area is getting close to being burned out or the area is being close to being burned by an out-of-control forest fire. They are quite concerned. I am not too sure what type of compensation is in place to help the trappers go to another area or help them with their loss of revenue for that season. That is my only question. Thank you.

This is an area that we cover under what is called values at risk, and priority area is focusing first on human life, personal property, public safety, and working our way out.

As the Member will recollect from the amount of times we’ve come back for supplementary appropriations, the fire seasons are getting longer and hotter and our costs are going up just to try to manage those key areas. We do, though, recognize that there are times when trappers are affected and we do have a fund to help compensate individuals. I think the maximum payout out of that is $37,000.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Next on my list I have Mr. Hawkins.

Mr. Chair, I move that we report progress. Thank you.

---Carried