Michael Miltenberger

Yes, we want to identify if there are gaps, be it in policy or procedures or standard operating procedures as well as any broader structural issues, equipment issues. This is a very comprehensive review, so we will be seeking to address those in anticipation of being ready for the upcoming season. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The fire suppression budget for this year, the base budget remains as it’s laid out in the main estimates. We are looking at next year probably a five-year average approach that would see a change, especially if one of the five years includes the $60 million. We’ll see what this fire season brings. The assurance to the people of the Northwest Territories, of course, is that we will, as a government and as a Legislature, put the resources that we need to to protect the homes, people and the safety and property values that we hold dear in the Northwest Territories. We...

The planning work is going on and has been going on now since the end of the fire season. We will have a compilation of all the feedback and responses and recommendations on a go forward basis by the end of March. That work is being done and funded through the forest division and the staff we have on our payroll. With an internal exercise, as well, we’ve been going out to the regions. I’d ask the deputy if he would want to add a bit more information about the work that’s been in done in anticipation of wrapping up last year and lessons learned for next year.

This is an important part of the economy, as the Member points out, that and the traditional knowledge. We’re committed to carrying on the good work that was done when the funding flowed through ITI. I’ll ask the deputy to just give a bit of a rundown on the various programs we do have that we’ve been administering now for some time both in terms of hunters and trappers assistance, Western Harvesters Fund, community harvester assistance and Take a Kid Trapping and such, with your agreement, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I will ask, with your indulgence, the deputy just to speak to the practice of assisting wherever we can with equipment, fire hoses, sprinklers and pumps as a matter of practice and convention when we have them available.

Once again, it’s a point that I would not disagree with the Member that the idea would be that yes, we have a long backlog of contaminated sites that need to be remediated and on a go forward basis we want to design our processes to avoid the creation of any new ongoing costs that are going to weigh us down, which is why we have invested the money we have in terms of securities and managing all those arrangements and making sure that as we do the project planning and assessment that there are the proper counterbalances in there to accommodate and prevent the type of contaminated sites by being...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the Member’s comments and his suggestions of where we could make life better. I want to reassure him that even though he challenges my memory, I have not forgotten what it’s like to be a Regular Member. I just want to reassure the Member of that as he constantly reminds me that I’ve forgotten, and I constantly remind him that I can well remember.

Unfortunately, I’m going to just tell him some things that he doesn’t want to hear. He says he knows the answers. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is working, in my opinion, at capacity. In fact...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We’re very interested in pursuing biomass initiatives. There are those projects underway in the community, as the Member indicates. As we achieve success, we’re interested in looking at those. There are other ones with the Willows and waste heat. I commend Fort McPherson, as well, for their initiative. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me Mr. Ernie Campbell and Ms. Susan Craig from Environment and Natural Resources, the deputy minister and finance.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do. I am pleased to present the 2015-2016 Main Estimates for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Overall, the department’s estimates propose a decrease of $112,000, which is less than 1 percent over the 2014-2015 Main Estimates.

These estimates continue to support the objectives of limiting expenditure growth in order to sustain the long-term sustainability of the fiscal framework.

Highlights of the proposed estimates include:

$1.5 million for the continued implementation of the Water Stewardship Strategy, including the implementation of transboundary...