Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Madam Chair. We've had a number of really bad forest fire seasons and the boreal forest simply is not growing back to be the same forest that it used to be. Also, there is a reforestation fund. We don't require our commercial forestry operators to replant, like they do in many other jurisdictions. There has been a recommendation that reforestation is one of the number one ways we can fight climate change; also, it's a huge employer. I guess my question to the Minister is: do we have money presently set aside for reforestation?

Sorry. I need a minute. You threw us off by changing the order.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Are you feeling a little tired today, perhaps like you did not get enough sleep? Well, that is because, Mr. Speaker, on the weekend, the government stole an hour from us due to the time change. The hardest part about this is I don't really know why. Often, people say it's about the farmers, but that is actually not true. Saskatchewan has not had a time change for years, and the farming is doing just fine there.

The true origins of this lie with Germany and World War I, as a cost measure to save fuel, something that is not even the case anymore as it has been shown that...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I see we're pulling about $5,000 in timber-cutting licences and permits, which is not that much. I recognize that much of the Northwest Territories doesn't have trees, but there has been, in the past, quite significant commercial timber operations in the South. Can I just get a sense of what the department is doing to, you know, look into further developing our forestry industry?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that. Committee will reach out, and we will look forward to continuing to have those discussions. Especially ENR's legislation is at the heart of, really related to, Indigenous and Aboriginal rights. I was hoping the Minister could speak to the process we are going to use and whether all of these post-devolution kind of initiatives will be using a co-drafting process.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Interestingly enough, we, as Members, are actually allowed to purchase carbon offsets through our CWAA to save for any flights we may take. Just an interesting fact for Members. I would like to see the GNWT look into that. Will the Minister of ENR -- I recognize that perhaps Finance, I don't know where exactly this would lie -- be willing to look in the possibility of GNWT utilizing carbon offsets as one of the many tools in fighting climate change?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess my next question is: work began on the Forest Act in the last Assembly. This department also is responsible for a number of the devolution pieces of legislation, the Waters Act, EPA, very significant pieces of legislation and work to be doing. Given the rush to get a bunch of legislation done in the last Assembly, I was just hoping the Minister could speak to what legislation we can expect to come forward in this Assembly and whether it's adequately funded in this budget, or should we expect to see a supplemental to make sure all of that very important...

Thank you, Madam Chair. My concern is that the Auditor General, one of the specific things is that we seem to lack any clear authority of responsibility for climate change. If we know that the energy strategy is not going to get us to meet our targets and we know that we, as a government, are not reaching our targets, which I think, considering we are disproportionately affected by climate change, really is not showing that we are a leader -- we are a relatively small jurisdiction. I recognize that, but I think we all have to do our part. If we know that we are not on track to meet our targets...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Now that we have this on-the-land unit developed, I was wondering if there were plans to update the Traditional Knowledge Policy.

Thank you, Madam Chair. When can we expect to see air regulations in place?