Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, that is not core funding.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to make it simple, I think I'll get the Member a job description of exactly what this position person does. I want to make it clear; there are 51 operators in the North Slave Region right now with five pending to come onboard, so that's going to be 56 operators. The majority of tourists in the Northwest Territories who come here right now, especially for aurora viewing, are concentrated in this area and we need to make sure that our operators are running, like I said, in a safe and compliant manner. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't want to get in a big argument with the Member, but this is an environmental research fund and they focus on environmental issues. As I've said, the role determines that, and, of course, we do have a couple of government officials who are on there but they're representing the Government of the Northwest Territories in an environmental capacity. This is what this board is set up to do and I think it does good work. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

As the Member knows, the section of road between Aklavik and Inuvik right now is between two different contractors, but the one section that is closer to Inuvik is the part that goes to the Tuktoyaktuk section, which will be closed off after this winter season with the opening of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. The present contractor for the majority of the road is from Aklavik. He presently has the contract, and I believe he has three more years, roughly, remaining on his contract. What I will do is have a look at that once the Inuvik section is done and see what we are going to do.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I have said, this is going to be a big piece of legislation and a big deal for this department to get this thing through. Public consultation is going to have to involve all those exact people that the Member is referring to. Once we get closer to how we are going to be going out there, I am sure we are going to be coming to committee and getting their input on how we are going to proceed. So we will be coming back to committee on how we proceed with this drafting. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think I answered this question earlier on moving forward on how we're going to engage everyone. We're going to get input from committee on how we're going to do this. This is a big act for the Government of the Northwest Territories moving forward. We want to bring the administration and land tenure and royalties together under one act, so it's going to take a lot of input from a number of stakeholders across the Northwest Territories, Aboriginal governments, NGOs, citizens at large, so we'll be engaging probably as many people as we can as we move this forward. Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On this particular file, we are working with my other department, the Department of Transportation, on how we can enhance roadside facilities. There is a small working group working on that. We are working to define the underlying needs that meet the needs of these emergency shelters and identify some alternative solutions. We are still working on an initiative before we bring it forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would say yes, but some of the staff is also engaged with some of the register of the active leases that we have as well, too. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our expenditures are covered for us to meet with communities and have our conversation with them. I am sure that the mines, when they are there participating, they are expending their own expenses. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, this position is strictly for the operators. Thank you, Mr. Chair.