Kieron Testart

Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the clarification on that. The next question is about forestry resources, so just a general question: have we completed forestry inventories for all of our available forestry product stock in the Northwest Territories for the purposes of industrial and economic harvesting? Thank you.

I won't remind the Minister of his deputy's remarks yesterday, but again, we're hearing that not much is going on, and it's not that new. That table, perhaps the current incarnation of that table is new, but the federal budget commitment has been there for a while, and so has the money. The Minister spoke about clusters. What is the path forward for the NWT? Should we be looking to forming partnerships with the other northern territories to build up an innovation cluster for ourselves, or should we be looking to partner with Alberta? What's the path forward on knowledge clusters?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I am just wondering about the department's logic behind it. I mean it seems like this is a very large appropriation based on the amount of people who are actually benefitting from the grant. Is there a reason that the appropriation is $100,000 when it seems like, for the two years that are indicated in these documents, we have $10,000 and then $30,000? How would the Minister characterize the planning that goes behind the $100,000 figure? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Conclusion

The Standing Committee on Government Operations' Review of Bill 1 is the result of a collaborative process. The standing committee wishes to thank the Minister for her concurrence with the motions made by the committee to amend the bill. The committee thanks the public for their participation in the review process and everyone involved in the review of this bill for their assistance and input.

Following the clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 1, Western Canada Lottery Act, as amended and reprinted, as ready for consideration in...

My apologies, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister repeat the response? Thank you.

Merci, Monsieur le President. [English translation not provided.]

Thank you for your indulgence, Mr. Chair, and also for the Minister indulging this line of questioning, which is very much a policy area. It is important to remember that, although he is in the chair right now, he is not always in the chair. It's the officials' level that does a lot of this work, and that's why instruments like MOUs are valuable, because it's not always Cabinet that makes these decisions. I have no further questions on this activity. Thank you.

Is the department considering any memoranda of understanding with other GNWT departments in order to create the authority it needs to form a leadership role over climate change activities in this government? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that the chair of Committee of the Whole leave the chair to report progress. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was reflecting on the business plan review that the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment conducted of the department's business plans, and subsequently, that has fed into this budget review process. One thing that was very clear is that the department is significantly delayed in pursuing its legislative agenda. They are not alone in this. We have not seen a considerable amount of legislation.

Now, I, for one, think that the government, when it is proposing reductions or changes the budget, they are considered in those reductions. I don't always...