Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, all of the above, social media, Chamber of Commerce, going back to past clients and asking them, looking at regional business lists as well. So, yeah, so all of the above, Madam Chair. But, again, this is one where we were particularly struck by a low response rate and so we're not -- we're not done with it. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Are there any further questions under this activity, economic diversification and business support, from Members? Member for Hay River South.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to talk a bit about food security because when I think of food security, I'm not sure exactly kind of what it means because I also think of affordability as well. So there seems -- to me, there's a disconnect between the two. And you know, when we -- when we look at the North and the high cost of living, affordability seems to be the main issue and not so much food security. So the -- can the Minister just talk a bit about that and how -- you know, how they deal with that differentiation. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of ITI.

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. That is exactly the challenge and the exact reason why there are multiple departments involved. ITI's side tend to be more on the commercial production of food and in that sense, wanting to ensure that we're doing everything we can to promote and support the local production of food. So whether it's through the fishery, which has a fair bit of investment from ITI in it, as well as obviously commercial agriculture which has different scales, you know, and can be everything from greenhouses to community gardens, which involves ECE on the community garden front. And then -- but then you do have an element of food security that is really poverty alleviation very specifically, and that is where Health and Social Services comes in. And a decision was made that they then would be the lead if that -- if we're looking at food security from that perspective, that they should, in fact, be the lead but in a way that's going to coordinate the efforts across all those departments on all of these initiatives to ensure that all are working together to the end goal of having more food available in the North, from the North, at more affordable rates. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, in the South Slave, you know, the amount of money I think that goes into agriculture is -- is a fairly significant amount. But there's also other work being done, I guess -- I think Guelph University is in there and they're looking at -- or they have been doing -- putting greenhouses in communities such as, I think, maybe Enterprise, Kakisa, Jean Marie, and in areas like that. And, you know, one of the issues there is that the weather up here and the snow loads are such that some of the greenhouses just can't withstand, you know -- stand that, those snow loads that we have, and they get destroyed during the winter.

So is there -- does the department work with -- with -- with the university and -- and some of the proponents in the community and also the people that are maybe providing that service to them by -- you know, by providing greenhouses. Because I know there are different types of green houses. There's ones that are probably, you know, more suited up here but of course they cost more money so. So if the Minister can just comment on that. Thank you.

Thank you Minister of ITI.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. We certainly do work with communities, and the Member's quite right, there has been collaboration with universities and communities around greenhouse and agriculture. The South Slave actually has a growing -- quite a growing area of agriculture. I had the chance to speak with other agriculture ministers recently and was struck by some of the numbers I'd seen about the growth that we have seen in this area here in the Northwest Territories.

As far as, you know, snow loads and sort of specific challenges, there are staff in the agriculture. There's a manager in ITI who does do exactly this kind of outreach and this kind of work. So I mean, the short answer is yes, and -- and actually one -- and sort of -- you know, -- or eight -- 1.2 or 1.8, whatever, is that there's also the agriculture food association who are now, I think, a couple years into their mandate and able to advocate for exactly the kinds of issues that the Member is raising. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just only got six minutes or less than six minutes, so I have to talk about the commercial fishery. And I guess more so about, you know, production costs. And this comes up year after year, and it's been ongoing for -- for a long time. And that's to do with equipment.

Like, equipment is dated. You know, they're running -- like, you know, we expect to do winter fisheries, and we're running with, you know, bombardiers that are probably in the '60s. That's how old they are. Trying to find parts for them is another thing.

I was helping, you know, one of the fishers there source parts and -- for his bug here this winter, and it -- and it's pretty -- it is pretty difficult.

So what is the department, I guess, doing to look at the equipment and how to -- is there a -- is there any move to look at replacement type equipment for -- you know, for winter fisheries or summer fisheries? The boats are kind of older as well, and they just been -- it's just been the same old thing year after year. I think it's -- you know, we're in -- you know, it's 2022. So there's got to be some better equipment out there, and I just want to know what the department is doing to assist the fishers in sourcing newer equipment and efficient equipment and energy efficient equipment. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of ITI.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, there are funding -- there is funding available to support the need for new equipment. I can give you actuals from 2021. There was, you know, I see $549,000 spent in this area. There's specific payments both for equipment as well as for training supports. And as the Tlicho fishing cooperative is overtaking the management of the plant, there's a lot of work happening with them in terms of, you know, as I mentioned earlier, that transfer assignment of the money is so that the manager there is in a position to, you know, understand what are the needs and what types of equipment are necessary. So, yeah, I mean -- so yeah, short answer is yes, there's some funding. Long answer, there's always room for more, but there's also a lot of work happening in this area with the manager to understand those needs and to also be talking to the federal government. So could certainly offer to have a bit more of an in-depth connection, Madam Chair, on this one. There is a working group available, and they would be the most up to speed on the current needs and if there's been any difference or change. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, because I know, you know, some of the operators they're going out with the same equipment they went out with last year and the year before and ten years ago so, you know, I haven't seen a lot of change. So I think it's incumbent upon -- you know, upon the department to -- to have somebody work with them to actually look at new types of equipment. So I'll just leave that one with you.

The second thing that operators have issue with, and that's hiring workers. Like, it's -- you know, it's -- it's difficult work, and sometimes there's not a lot of money in it. Is there any -- any support to offset some of the wages for the workers that they do hire? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of ITI.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Another issue that arises is WSCC coverage for the fishermen and, you know, as far as I know, they don't have access to it. We've had -- we've had issues in the past. We've had deaths, drownings on the lake. We've lost fishermen. And there's no support at the end of the day for their -- for the -- for their families. So is the department looking at what they can do to support the fishers with respect to, you know, obtaining WSCC coverage? You know, everything is -- everything is an added cost at the end of the day. You know, and how far do you go? Because the costs are going up and fish prices aren't. So, you know, and -- and it's going to be government that's got to step in to do something. And -- and we've been doing it. But, you know, this one here I think is very important going forward because, again, we're -- it's 2022, and, you know, they need -- they need some assurance that they're looked after. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of ITI.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I -- I was actually in Hay River meeting with fishers when I heard very much about that exact issue. So I think our offer at this point was to help them go through those processes of applying, that we had made that offer and certainly would make that offer again. As for any costs associated, I don't have specific funding available right now for that. But I'll simply take that away. It may well be that there's some federal dollars they could find some assistance with. Again, we've offered in the past to help to path find a way forward on this one, and I want to reiterate that. And beyond that, take it away further because it -- yes, again, as I said, I've heard that myself. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any further questions under economic diversification and business support?

Seeing none, Industry, Tourism and Investment, economic diversification and business support, operations expenditure summary, 2022-2023 Main Estimates, $17,919,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. We'll take a short recess.

---SHORT RECESS

I will now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we will continue on under Industry, Tourism and Investment, and we are under the activity minerals and petroleum resources. Do I have questions from Members? Member for Kam Lake.