I don't believe it's unbalanced. Yellowknife also has just about 20,000 people, the majority of establishments and the majority of people in a high, high influx as a territorial centre where folks come in and out of town. So they have way more volumes than anywhere else as well.

One of the benefits to Yellowknife is they have potentially a full complement of liquor inspectors. I know that in the smaller communities it is much more problematic finding qualified liquor inspectors. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't believe anybody is being unfairly targeted. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, or ENR, Strategic Plan for 2015-2020. This strategic plan, which will be tabled later today, establishes a vision, mission, values, goals and objectives for the department. The strategic plan incorporates the new responsibilities of ENR post- Devolution.

The 2015-2020 ENR Strategic Plan aligns with government policies, including the ENR Establishment Policy, and the GNWT Sustainable Development Policy and the Land Use and Sustainability Framework.

The development of the ENR Strategic Plan was a collaborative exercise. Opportunities were provided for all ENR regional and headquarters staff to engage and provide input into the development of this planning document for the department.

An action plan, which sets out strategic program priorities and key action items with measurable targets, is planned to be tabled during the February session to ensure alignment with priorities set by the 18^th Assembly. ENR will continue to engage and consult with its partners on programs and services, consistent with its past and current approach.

The 2015-2020 ENR Strategic Plan sets the stage for ENR to better coordinate its various responsibilities and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of program and service delivery. The strategic plan and associated action plan will replace the Framework for Action. These documents will be flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances and priorities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Yes.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We are not that prescient that we can foretell what the exchange rate will be by next year, which is why we’re going to set up this facility to help us try to hedge and hopefully pick appropriately as we’re hedging what exactly it is we’re going to hedge and how much. So I appreciate the Member’s concern. We can tell you what we’ve spent to date with the actual cost of what we came forward with, the money we saved by advancing the project last year to the money that it cost us with the exchange rate drop. All combined, that money has been paid. We can tell you to the penny now what that has cost us. The next installment we are going to be taking all the steps we’ve talked about here to make sure that we hedge against another type of loss related to exchange rates. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The issue of buying in US dollars anything of significance, both gentlemen at the table here have a combined experience of over 50 years, and this is the first situation of this nature that either one, with that extensive experience, has experienced or been involved in. I have much less experience in the finance field but could add a few years to that as well.

As the deputy minister indicated, we are taking the steps with one of the institutions and a facility to be ready, should that need arise, and we’re going to, of course, be prepared, and this has now been documented that if that issue comes up and as we move forward before we get to the stage of having to actually pull the trigger on some type of investment, the US dollars, between ourselves, the very qualified staff we have, all the experts we use and of course the due diligence and vigilance of the communities and the Legislatur

e that I’m sure that

we will make sure that we are well prepared. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This money in question is money that was provided to us as an inducement to help encourage and make lease renewal more of a possibility, so the money is sitting there in an account as an inducement given to us and we are just now seeking approval to put that money to use to do different improvements. Once again, Madam Chair, I’d ask if the deputy minister wanted to add anything further.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The whole practice of hedging is a separate, highly volatile profession of its own, and if we could with any certainty know which way things were going to go as hedgers, as has been pointed out, I’d probably be sitting in lavish luxury somewhere in maybe another locale. Be that as it may, we don’t normally buy a lot of things in US funds and, no, we did not hedge, buy any dollars to hedge on this. Yes, we are looking at how we could possibly ameliorate that impact. But I would also point out that earlier in this process we came before the Legislature and we moved some money up to take advantage of an opportunity that saved us, about a year or so ago, about $350,000, so things are close to balancing out. But the issue of hedging and having to pay money because of the exchange rate is something that we are, as I indicated, trying to ameliorate

. I’ll ask the deputy minister if he wants

to add anything further, Madam Chair.