Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't think there's any dramatic change in their level of activity over the last year or two. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, maybe they are still busy. I don't know. It seems to me that there would be less activity that they have to regulate because there's no active exploration. There's no production that's happened in the last year. Can the Minister confirm or tell us about the level of activity that these folks actually have to regulate? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

I know that, as of January 25, the regulator is in issue 20 operating licence

This is what he said, but please confirm the correct formatting. 9:32, take 24

for the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Again, I don't know the long, long history of this. Well, I guess it doesn't have that long a history, but I don't think we have heard from them that they require more resources at this time. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

I just wonder whether they could use less resources, given that there doesn't seem to be a lot of activity happening. So is that something that the department has looked at? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand there has been a reduction in their use of contractors as they build their own capacity. I don't think the Member really would want us to cut down the funds we're supplying to OROGO. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm not trying to tell the Minister what to do, but the Minister seems to find other areas to cut within the department, and this is one where there may not be a lot of activity going on, so I'm just wondering. There has been no change to their budget from last year. Can the Minister commit to having the regulator maybe appear before standing committee so that we can just learn a little bit more about what they do? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes. As I say, as I mentioned earlier, what they have been doing is building capacity in this somewhat-less busy time, but perhaps I could ask the regulator or, rather, the executive director to appear in front the committee. Yes, I can do that.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, just to close this off, I wonder whether the executive director could appear before the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, rather than the Standing Committee on Social Development, where this seems to be parked. Is that possible? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you. Yes. That seems sensible.

Thank you. Nothing further from Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. McNeely.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. If it came to oil and gas, and I didn't say anything, I wouldn't be doing my job. I'm glad there are physical allowances in the budget for this department to maintain, keep the interest there, keep the doors open. It can be the same concept as what our neighbour in the south said on the activities going on in Alberta, so they turned towards orphan wells as job creation and cleaning up old leases, so, having had some discussion with the department, they're concentrating on that, as well. I think the orphan well program they have, Well Watch, is well underway and in consultation with the communities. I look forward to having further dialogue to see how we can emerge a new possible industry on cleaning up somebody else's mess. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McNeely. Would the Minister like to respond?

Thank you to the Member for his comments. Certainly, perhaps some of the responses that we've given could be fleshed out, if the executive director does appear in front of committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Anything further from Mr. McNeely?

It could be viewed, Mr. Chair, as a dormant industry, but, given some of the previous statements and efforts I made here, we can look at the pipeline oil industry program repair for Enbridge Line 21 in Fort Simpson. Now, I feel that we're probably going to see, after the permitting process is done and the procurement, an injection of $53 million into that region, which I think is a significant amount and should be implemented towards further leakage of the lines so we can create some commerce. So it's certainly an industry that is kind of tabled at the moment, but beyond our means. I think something might happen down the road. Thank you.