Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If we go to page 210, so operations expenditures is $14.7 million, roughly, for operations and expenditures of parks; $5 million of that, I believe, is for parks alone. Tourism initiatives is one point --

These are agreements that are presently in place. When they were signed back in the early 90s and later 90s, we never had the regulatory authority over this; this was done under the federal government, the system that was in place at that time, and we have to live up to what was taking place then. When we move forward, as we try to attract new mining companies to the Northwest Territories, we will try to enshrine the stuff that's important to Northerners and the Northwest Territories and ensure we get the best deal for the people of the North.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The oil and gas strategy as we move forward is going to have a component on infrastructure. With the pause, as I've said, in the oil and gas industry this department has taken the initiative to downsize our wants and needs around the oil and gas industry to at least meet our obligation and the mandate commitments as well as developing oil and gas strategy legislation moving forward and have enough people in place in case there is a rebound and the market indicates there will be.

I want to make the comment around what the Member is stating, around infrastructure needs, and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm not sure I can take one little community like that in isolation and compare those numbers, but what I can tell the Member I can do is have a look if we tracked the number of actual visitors who visit Fort Simpson. I'm not saying that every visitor checks into the Village Tourism Information Booth or not, but I can get the numbers for that particular community, the number of visitors that they had. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If you look at the top of the page, they actually have an authorized limit of $15 million. If there's a surplus there this year it's because the projects are brought forward every year. Depending on how the expenditures roll out maybe that was a carryover from last year's, but these funds that come available are based on levies on oilfield leases. Thank you, Mr. Chair

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, if you go by the list that I gave you, I would probably say the administrative assistant is the only one who is not a specialist. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think the remediation question around the Esso Norman Wells field is a little early; they're still planning on producing for the next five to six years, but that's not saying that if someone came forward with a proposal to look at how we're going to get the community involved in a remediation, that type of workshop, I'm certain that the department would have a look at it and consider it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As the Member is aware, we took a number of Aboriginal groups down to Mineral Roundup this year, which was a great success. We got letters back from all of them stating it. As we move forward and there is more interest in the mining industry from Aboriginal governments, I believe this line item will be oversubscribed. If it is, we will try to find money from within somewhere else. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We don't have that exact number at our fingertips, but I believe we have 17 parks in the NWT. As for the other day-use parks and stuff, we'd have to get that, so we'll get those numbers together for the Member. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll have to have a look into this. If there's the only one posted there, certainly there are other agreements that have been signed off and have been in place for a number of years and I will ensure that the ones that are signed off and in place, that we will have them posted on the website. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.