Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Miltenberger.

Yes, Mr. Chairman, that’s the intent. Thank you.

Thank you. I look forward to that. Will we see some policy gaps being identified, and if they have, will we be seeing some proposals to address them?

Yes, we want to identify if there are gaps, be it in policy or procedures or standard operating procedures as well as any broader structural issues, equipment issues. This is a very comprehensive review, so we will be seeking to address those in anticipation of being ready for the upcoming season. Thank you.

I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s aware of a policy gap associated with the compensation for fire losses only being available to trappers and not to others that live on the land and make their living off the land and through important roles in remote locations.

We have one specifically designated pot of money. The maximum is, I believe, about $30,000 for trappers’ cabins. We have no compensation fund or policy for any folks that choose to live in the hinterland. It could be a policy decision. If that’s going to be the role of government to compensate everybody that lives out on the land, then we need to have a very careful look at that because I’m assuming it would be very expensive. Is that our role? It’s been identified because of some of the occurrences last fire season, but clearly, as a government, we’re not in a position nor do we have a fund that will allow us to do more than provide very modest compensation that is now available to those folks that are trapping. Thank you.

Would the Minister commit to doing an inventory of the number of people that live out on the land? I don’t recall suggesting that the compensation would need to be more than a trapper receives, although perhaps there would be consideration for that since trappers don’t typically live on the land these days. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, yes, we’ll look at talking to our colleagues from Lands and such. We can probably get a number of folks that live outside community boundaries. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, we’re not talking about people that live outside community boundaries; we’re talking about people that live on the land away from civilization and make their living on the land. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, we’ll see what numbers we can get, how specific a listing we can get from recreational cabins, I suppose, to a full… I’ll see if we have the information on full-time inhabitants that live outside of community boundaries full time in abodes in the hinterland and those that do it full time and commute into work or those at full time living off the land. I’m not quite sure the designation that the Member is asking for. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Bromley, your time has expired. If you need to come back, just let the chair know. Continuing on with forest management, I have Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Under community protection research, last year one of the communities wanted to do some fire protection in the community and put a fireguard around the community, which is Fort McPherson, but because the season got so busy here, they never did get around to that work. Also, Tsiigehtchic is really at risk because we live right close to the forest there. If we ever had a large fire in these areas with a big south wind, these communities would be at risk.

I’d like to know if the department is going to be working with these communities here over the spring to make sure we have this in place and also possibly do a back burn before it gets too dry. I think that it’s better to be prepared in case anything happens. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As part of the review process from last fire season, as we go into the communities and into the regions, that discussion is taking place. We don’t have a big pot of money set aside. We would work with communities. We would work with individuals. We would look at putting the fire crews to work, for example, if they’re not otherwise occupied in communities, to help doing some of that work. Once again, we are encouraging individuals to fire smart all their own properties and whatever resources that communities may have, as well, to add to that. We will work with communities on looking at how we can collectively move ahead on those fire smart plans in the communities. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, over this past summer here we spent in the neighbourhood of $60 million, so I think we should have, as a department, put more funds into this. We know the dry season is upon us. I think that we should have budgeted for that. To spend, whether it’s $100,000 to get all the communities in the NWT prepared, I think that’s good planning. That should be undertaken this spring. Thank you.

As far as I’m aware, all the communities have their fire protection plans, and it’s just an issue now between the communities and ENR and individuals in looking at implementing them. Once again, we are fiscally challenged, as well, so we don’t have a big, significant amount of money put aside that’s going to allow us to go and take on that full cost of going to every community in the boreal forest on our own as an ENR initiative. Thank you.

Many times we always hear that we don’t have funds, but when an emergency arises, all of a sudden, whether its $2 million, $10 million or $60 million it just seems to pop out of nowhere. I think it’s very important we set aside… You know, it’s not a large amount of money. Fifty to 100 thousand dollars is a small price to pay to have these communities up to speed and prepared. That’s the main thing that we have to be for this coming season. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. For that we’ll go to the deputy minister, Mr. Campbell.

Just one more thing there. The lookout tower at Shiltee Rock, is the department going to work with the community to ensure that it’s built and in place before the fire season?

I know last year the community was very interested in negotiating this, so is the Minister willing to either sole source it to the community or negotiate with the community to ensure this is in place before this spring season? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister Miltenberger.

Mr. Chair, as the deputy pointed out, there were no takers last go around, so we will go back in and see if there’s any interest at the community level to get this tower built. Thank you.