Thank you committee. We will consider the document after a brief recess.

---SHORT RECESS

I will now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 322-18(3), Main Estimates 2019-2020, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, followed by the Department of Finance. To begin with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, I will turn to the Minister for any opening comments. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here today to present the 2019-2020 Main Estimates for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Overall, the department's estimates propose a decrease of $1.329 million, or 1.5 percent, compared to the 2018-2019 Main Estimates.

Highlights of the proposed estimates for the department include the following:

• new forced-growth funding of $381,000, which includes a term position to meet the government's commitments related to the environmental assessment of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway; and
• new initiative funding of $540,000, which includes resources to implement the 2030 NWT Climate Change Strategic Framework.

These estimates continue to support the priorities and mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories by:

• improving coordination and effectiveness in resources management systems, recognizing traditional knowledge, land claim agreements, and devolution;
• mitigating and adapting to climate change in collaboration with other governments, businesses, and non-government organizations;
• continuing action on conservation planning, which includes finalizing and implementing existing Candidate Protected Areas and using made-in-the-North approaches to new protected areas, such as Thaidene Nene, Ramparts, and Dinaga Wek'ehodi;
• the department also continues to work with the federal government and co-management partners to develop a new and ambitious suite of tools to research, monitor, and manage range planning in support of conservation of barren-ground and boreal caribou in the NWT;
• ENR continues to conduct and support environmental monitoring and research in the NWT to ensure informed decision-making in resource management and improve our understanding of cumulative impacts on our ecosystems;
• continuing to work with partners to identify opportunities for country food programming, fur harvesting, and traditional knowledge promotion as part of our commitment to promoting initiatives that foster and support sustainable on-the-land livelihoods for residents of the NWT; and
• development of the Water Stewardship Strategy Action Plan, including the implementation of trans-boundary agreements with Alberta and British Columbia, Yukon, and negotiations towards establishing an agreement with Saskatchewan.

That concludes my opening remarks, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. I understand that you have witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the chamber. Minister, you may take your seat at the witness table with them. Committee, the department begins on page 61 of the document. The departmental total can be found on page 65, but as always, we will consider the activities prior to voting on the total department. Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses for the record?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my left, I have Dr. Joe Dragon, who is the deputy minister of Environment and Natural Resources. To my right, I have Mr. Dennis Marchiori, who is our director of Corporate Services with Environment and Natural Resources. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Welcome to the witnesses. Committee, the first activity begins on page 68, corporate management. Before we get started, I just want to ask that the committee members and the witnesses keep their questions, comments, and answers very pointed. I know that sometimes there are quite open-ended questions, and an answer can go on for forever. If we can just try to keep things tight and keep things moving, that would be greatly appreciated. Questions or comments from committee on corporate management? Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The department, and the Minister said this in his opening remarks, is taking a cut again. This is the fourth year in a row. The department has lost 10 percent of its overall budget over that period of time. When I checked the Department of Finance website for the business plan, there is a list of the mandate items. Only five of 25 mandate items have been completed, and one of the ones that was marked as completed is the Centre of Excellence feasibility study, which hasn't even started, so I'm not sure how that made it in there.

Before the Minister says anything about me throwing the staff under the bus, that is not the case at all. I have worked with many of those staff for 20, 25 years. Great staff, but they are just not getting the resources that they need to get the job done. The lack of progress on the mandate items is probably the best example of that. Can the Minister explain briefly why the department is continuing to take a cut for the fourth year in a row? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am appreciative of the Member's support for our hard-working staff, who do a lot of good work over at ENR. I am glad he recognizes that, so I will say no more than that.

As far as the reductions go, initially, when we started the 18^th Legislative Assembly, for the first two years departments were given a reduction target. Because some of the proposed reductions or revenue streams that ENR had initially proposed weren't where they should be, ENR had come back to the FMB and said that they may need to put off their reductions for one year. As Members recall, I said that there were going to be reductions for the first two years, I think, when we initially started the 18^th Assembly. Some of these are residual effects, and some are because we had to reinstate some of the funding that the department had initially identified as part of their cost savings. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I take it from the Minister, then, that this is just a continuation of the reduction exercise and it is being spread out over a longer period of time with this department, which I think is a real shame.

I would like to ask the Minister a couple of very specific questions about corporate management, as well. The department has been developing five bills, and those are slowly making their way over into the House, and so on. Where did the resources come from to develop those bills? Did the Minister go to the Financial Management Board, or were they just found internally? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Marchiori.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the response. Does the department have a rough figure for how much that has cost the department to date? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Dr. Dragon.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. My question was: I'd like a round figure, and if they can give that to me today, or make a commitment to provide it. I seem to recall a figure of $2 million, but can someone confirm that for me? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. We'll provide the round figure to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Can anybody tell me whether there's any funding in 2019-2020 for the development of communications materials related to these bills? Thanks, Mr. Chair.