Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Campbell.
Debates of June 7th, 2016
This is page numbers 409-454 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 2nd 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 going.
Topics
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Campbell
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Of course, all of our harvesters that want to sell their fur bring it in to our offices. That allows a lot of opportunity for our officers to engage in discussions, not only about the trapping and on-the-land activities but on the fur pricing program. The majority of the comments over the years has been very positive for our department. Again, it's actually a world-renowned program, the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program, just because of the way it's structured and the guarantees to our harvesters. For the most part, we seldom receive negative comments on the program. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Kieron Testart Kam Lake
I don't believe the department would receive negative comments from MLAs on this program, either. It does seem to be quite sustainable and quite important to creating those jobs and economic opportunity in smaller communities, so I appreciate that it's working well and that it has a sustainable model. I believe those are all my questions, Mr. Chair.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Daniel McNeely Sahtu
Thank you, Mr. Chair. With the department sponsoring a lot of these programs and community assistance, does the department set aside funding for regional awareness workshops to initiate discussions about the programs and services and subsidies the department offers?
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Campbell
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, for example, the South Slave and the Dehcho, those two regions alternate these regional workshops on a two-year cycle. Further up the valley of course we work with our co-management partners. However, the workshops are not formal workshops like they are in the two southern regions, they're more ad hoc and there's other types of workshops where we talk to the harvesters. One of them is in the fire program area where we have, on an annual basis, forums where we want to hear from the people on our programs that relate to fire. Of course, when you talk fire, it's broader than that, there's impacts on harvesters, on compensation, et cetera. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Daniel McNeely Sahtu
Thank you, Mr. Chair. To add to that, more specifically there's a Sahtu MOU signed this past June last year, June 25, to initiate discussions of more efficiencies on a variety of programs set by this government identified in the MOU. I'm just wondering if there's funding available to exercise the MOU on the variety of services provided by the department and programs and grants? Has there been a workshop supporting the MOU identifying the programs and services, so it'll be better accessible or communication sharing of the programs underneath the MOU?
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Campbell
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm not clear on the question, whether it's related to the broader MOU between the GNWT and Sahtu, or is it more on other MOUs in relation to maybe research or community-based monitoring, et cetera?
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair R.J. Simpson
Thank you, Mr. Campbell. Mr. McNeely, could you clarify the question for Mr. Campbell?
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Daniel McNeely Sahtu
Yes. Not so much in the other departments, but within this department, is there evidence I would say since the MOU was signed to exercise awareness through the workshops for the programs offered by this Department? Is there funding set aside to hold workshops with the Sahtu communities?
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Dr. Kelly
I know there have been…There have been workshops where community members have come down to Yellowknife and done training towards community-based monitoring, and opportunities for building capacity in the Sahtu where they're completing the monitoring themselves. There's also some work going on related to some of the monitoring work in the Sahtu region and there have been discussions with industry and community members as well as ENR on those topics as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair R.J. Simpson
Thank you, Ms. Kelly. Mr. McNeely. No further questions from Mr. McNeely. Seeing no one on my list for page 88, we can continue on page 89, corporate management, active positions. Are there any comments or questions? Page 89.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Some Hon. Members
Agreed
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair R.J. Simpson
Looks like we're done with the corporate management division details, so we can go back to page 87. Are there any comments or questions on the operations expenditure summary? Mr. Thompson.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Shane Thompson Nahendeh
Just a couple questions. I noticed in fees and payments there's almost a $2,000,000 reduction. Can the Minister or his department explain why we have such a huge reduction in this area? Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Craig
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In fiscal year 2015-16, we had the settlement of a legal matter and that was an exceptional expenditure in that fiscal year.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Shane Thompson Nahendeh
I hope we won't see any more of those. Contract services, could you explain what that involves? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters