Louis Sebert

Thank you, Mr. Chair, to my right is Willard Hagen, deputy minister. To my left Brenda Hilderman, director of Finance and Administration. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, in essence, that is true. However, I mentioned the honour of the Crown. One of the things we have to do in the unsettled areas is, of course, consult with the affected Aboriginal groups. So there are really two things coming into play there. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

This money isn't to settle the land claims, but perhaps Mr. Hagen would elaborate a little more on how the money is being spent. I understand it's to develop policies and procedures for evaluating agricultural land lease applications, but he may have something to add.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, of course, people could pay on a monthly basis. I see there is a note here that informs me that, under section 3 of the Income Assistance Policy Manual, applicants who reside on Commissioner's lands, the Department of Lands, or the NWTHC may qualify for monthly allowance to assist in the cost of the land lease. I wasn't aware of that. It appears there are avenues to assist people who find themselves in the position that you have mentioned. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I just want to say that a legal opinion from Justice would be privileged.

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to present the 2018-2019 Main Estimates for the Department of Lands. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $1,447,000, or 5 per cent over the 2017-2018 Main Estimates.

Highlights of the proposed estimates include initiative funding of $1,451,000; forced growth totalling $480,000, sunsets of $215,000, and a reduction of $116,000. Our estimates include one-time funding of $558,000 in 2018-2019 to lay the groundwork to develop an approach to manage untenured and unauthorized occupancy of public lands. This funding includes two one-year term positions.

O...

Cassidy Point. Well, hard cases, in a way, make bad law, if I could put it that way. What happened there was that there was an undertaking by a senior member of the staff of the government some years ago that people would get fee simple in that area, at Cassidy Point, and the government felt obligated to come through with that promise, as I think is appropriate; but that promise was not made generally. So, we're going to have to take these more complicated steps to resolve these other 245 equity leases.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Perhaps I could defer that question to Mr. Hagen. Thank you.

I did think about other amounts myself and thought that clearly a reduction from the 10 per cent was warranted and felt that 5 per cent was reasonable. Thank you.

I do not know the answer to that, but I know that they have met all security requirements to this stage, so a sudden change by us might be seen as arbitrary. Perhaps the best way of handling this, though, would be to have us look into it and perhaps we could meet with committee on a confidential basis to discuss some of these issues.