Robert C. McLeod

There were some gaps through this formula funding review that were identified. I think one of the bigger gaps is the O and M funding. Again, we have to, as a government and this Assembly and possibly the 18th, find ways that we can try and address those gaps. I think that’s going to be a huge undertaking. The work is complete, but again, the next part of it is finding the funding.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Through one of the consultations here in Yellowknife there was a concern raised by some of the residents that they wanted the focus area expanded to include some of the islands, so we took that into consideration and I believe we have now expanded the focus area to include some of the islands that many residents were concerned about. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Through the formula funding review this is an issue that was discussed and we’ll continue to move forward on this. I think we’ve had a number of recommendations that have come out of that. The government, actually, you know, we’re challenged fiscally, and the people that worked on the formula funding review recognize that. But it is an issue that has been brought up and we need to find ways to deal with it.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We’ll make that commitment to make it a little… Again, this is 11 months into the process so we’re just figuring out how we go about our business plans and presenting them to committee, but we will make that commitment to be a little more specific going forward.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think it was maybe last year or the year before, we did have a bit of an increase in this fund. I think we’re up to $400,000 now, as the Member mentioned. It’s fully subscribed to. We have a number of communities that are taking us up on this. It could help with equipment. However, I think the communities’ priority is to provide training, and I think we’ve been working with Transportation to provide some first responder training.

It is a program that is fully subscribed to and we are making some progress on this again. There are options there to help the communities with...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my right I have Mr. Mark Warren, deputy minister of lands. To my left, I have Brenda Hilderman. She is the director of finance, Department of Lands.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. A considerable amount of work has been done on this. I think we have requested some time with committee to provide them an update as to some of the work that we’re doing. Thank you.

I am pleased to present the 2015-2016 Main Estimates for the Department of Lands. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $2.438 million, or 9 percent, over the 2014-2015 Main Estimates.

Highlights of the proposed estimates include:

$2.8 million in new initiatives. These initiatives are funded from the reserve set aside by this Assembly for devolution impacts identified after the 2014-2015 Main Estimates were considered by this Assembly. These initiatives include:

$1.006 million for the new liabilities and financial assurances division to manage and coordinate the financial...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Right before committee I think there was support there for our desire to add next an extra person on. As you heard from Mr. Schauerte, we’ve re-profiled one of our positions to help deal with this so we can take care of some of the backlog as far as legislation goes and be as current as possible. We had the support of committee. Again, because of fiscal constraint, we were unable to get the position at this time, so we re-profiled internally. Thank you.

That is a loaded question. I think it was felt that with our experience in dealing with the voluntary sector that it would be a good fit in MACA. Thank you.