Robert C. McLeod

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we would want it to come over. We're in the early stages of a discussion with them. I'm sure one of the topics of discussion will be: we want the money to come over with it. We're in the early stages of the discussions and, if we have any information to share, I will be happy to put in in the form of a letter or an email to committee and just say this is where we are at. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this is just our contribution through ENR to help do some of the FireSmarting. There are other pots of funding that they are able to access to complete the work, I believe through MACA. They get some funding through MACA, and then I believe through the small community employment fund that there are some opportunities there that have been identified by some of the smaller communities as a good way that they could use that fund. This is just ENR's contribution to the FireSmarting program. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we all share the Member's concern with the state of the caribou herd in the Northwest Territories. Again, this is another area where traditional knowledge would play an important factor, because who knows the caribou better than the people who have been living off them for hundreds of years?

There had been an opportunity there, and I think it's one of the reasons that as we do caribou surveys and Deputy Dragon spoke to before, the Boots on the Ground program. Again, that's taking advantage and using a lot of traditional knowledge, and good caribou management...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, before I hand it off to Dr. Dragon, the Member's first comment before, and I failed to reply to it, on the Thaidene Nene. Obviously, our desire is to do this right, and we're going to make sure we do it right. The federal government is going to make some investments, so we'll have the resources to make sure we have the ability and the capacity to monitor this part.

As far as shuffling money off, we don't do that. We don't shuffle money off, but I'll get Dr. Dragon to respond to why the money was being moved from CIMP over. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my understanding is, in some of the smaller communities, we do send crews in as needed. As far as the community itself having their own crew, we have no contracts in place with any of the smaller communities to have a dedicated crew in that community. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I actually had that discussion with the Minister of DFO. My understanding, as Ms. Craig pointed out, is that they are having a meeting with them this week, because we had heard about it the week before we went down on a trip to Ottawa. I think the Minister of ITI and the Premier have heard about it as well. We actually raised it. Of all the conversations I've had and the conversation with Minister Morneau last year, we raised the fact about the one-day fishing licence and we were kind of hoping he'd put it in his budget address last year. We are working with it and it is...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the new firefighting fleet that we have is getting rave reviews. They're very, very efficient, and they've done everything we expected them to do, which is good. The Member is absolutely correct. We're fortunate this year, we haven't had an opportunity to see how they really work but that's a good thing. The maintenance cost on these are practically nil for the next few years. As far as the old water bomber fleet, those have all been sold and the money is in the bank. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we are well aware of all the work that needs to be done. The department feels like that work can be done within the existing $481,000 budget. The $50,000 I spoke of earlier, before, was to reduce contract services within the water regulatory section. The department obviously feels like they have the capacity to do the work that is required within the $481,000. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I will commit to provide committee with a briefing as we get closer and closer to the establishment of the park, and as well, we will have some numbers as to the cost to operate it. As we get closer to concluding our negotiations, I will keep committee informed and then provide them with a briefing before we finalize it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in Fort Simpson, I believe there are 13 positions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.