Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are looking at that very issue as part of the ATIP review. Obviously, it is not a large revenue item. I do not know what legislation says in other jurisdictions. Clearly, you do not want fees to be an impediment to reasonable requests for information. I imagine in past times there was concern that the government might be overwhelmed, or the ATIP people might be overwhelmed by requests for information that were not terribly serious. Whether that is an issue or not, I do not know. It is an issue, obviously, that we are looking at, because we do not want to have people prevented from accessing ATIP because of the costs. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do not have any further questions, other than I do want to express my thanks to the Minister, and I do hope that the department will seriously look at getting rid of the fees completely, if we are only collecting $4,000, so that we can move forward with a more open and transparent government. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister explain what operator licenses the Department of Justice is earning regulatory revenue on? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Sebert.

Is the Member talking about the $1,000 item?

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Clarification there, Mr. Testart.

Yes.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Sebert.

I am told that it has to do with licenses related to exploratory work under the Oil and Gas Regulations and Operations Act.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Testart.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I suppose that speaks to the state of our oil and gas industry, which is disappointing. I notice that the Witness Expense Assistance Program is no longer accounted for, or it doesn't seem to have any revenues. I am assuming that line item is rolled into another program. Is that correct, or has that source of revenue been eliminated?

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Sebert.

-- ability, and therefore costs have been rolled into with PPSA, the federal government. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Testart.

Nothing further. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. No further questions? Seeing none. Committee, please turn to page 253. Justice, total department, $123,417. Does this committee agree? Before we proceed on, I'll recognize Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The motion is on the floor and being distributed. The motion is in order and is non-debatable. All those in favour. All those opposed.

---Carried

Committee, the consideration of the Department of Justice has been deferred. I want to thank the Minister and his witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber.

Thank you, committee. We have next agreed to consider the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, which begins on page 307. I will turn to the Minister responsible for her opening remarks. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to present the 2017-2018 Main Estimates for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $2.56 million from the 2016-2017 Main Estimates, which is a 2.4 per cent increase.

These estimates continue to support the Government of the Northwest Territories' objective of ensuring a strong and sustainable future for the government and its programs by managing expenditures due to limited revenue growth.

The 2017-2018 Main Estimates include an increase of $1.6 million from the 2017-18 business plan reviewed by standing committee in September. This increase is the result of two changes:

● Under the Government of the Northwest Territories' obligations in the Deline final self-government agreement, Municipal and Community Affairs has moved $809,000 in capital funding into the regional operations budget. This $809,000 will make up a portion of the block funding grant that will be made to the Deline Got'ine Government this fiscal year. Since this is a transfer between budgets, there is no financial impact on the Government of the Northwest Territories; and

● New funding of $616,000 to begin to implement 911 service in the Northwest Territories.

The 2017-2018 Main Estimates reflect:

● $606,000 in reductions that the department was able to find without reducing core funding to community governments;

● An increase of $1.129 million in funding to community governments to support the increased cost of operations and maintenance and water and sewer delivery at the community government level; and

● Initiative funding of $500,000 to provide increased support for the hosting of the 2018 Arctic Winter Games in the South Slave region.

The department's proposed spending in 2017-18 continues to support the priorities of the 18th Legislative Assembly. Specific activities in support of these priorities include:

● Within the governance priority area, we are advancing legislative priorities including amendments to the Civil Emergency Measures Act, the Western Canada Lottery Act, and the Fire Prevention Act. We will also engage with community governments and stakeholders on potential amendments to the Cities, Towns and Villages Act to address local improvement levies for energy retrofits.

● Within the education, training and youth priority area, we will continue to develop and enhance the online training and certification opportunities available to community government staff and officials through the department's School of Community Government.

● We will provide young Northerners from across our territory with once-in-a-lifetime structured volunteer experiences and opportunities to travel the country as youth ambassadors.

● Within the cost of living priority area, we will continue to support community governments as they apply for and take advantage of the suite of federal infrastructure funding programs available to them.

The department will support mandate objectives related to accountability through the implementation of our action plan to address the Office of the Auditor General's Performance Audit of Municipal and Community Affairs. That action plan will result in improvements to the department's accountability, as well as community government accountability. Finally, Municipal and Community Affairs will work with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada to improve our relationship and support to Aboriginal governments as they deliver essential services to residents. That concludes my opening remarks. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Do you have witnesses you would like to bring into the Chamber? Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister would you please introduce your witnesses to committee.

On my left I have Eleanor Young. She is the deputy minister for Municipal and Community Affairs. On my right is Gary Schauerte. He is the director of Corporate Affairs.