Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have been travelling across the NWT, the topic of caribou comes up with a lot of people. The more people I talked to, the more I became interested in what was happening in the Deh Cho in this area. After doing research, I found out the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is doing studies with boreal caribou in the Deh Cho.

Mr. Speaker, it was initiated in 2004 with the deployment of 10 satellite collars on adult female caribou at the request of, and after consultation with, Sambaa K'e Dene Band.

I am happy to say that there are extensive consultations in...

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank Dr. Kelly for her answer. So does the department or Municipal and Community Affairs help communities provide funding for them to fire smart the communities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have nothing further. I have kind of spoken my piece and the Minister unfortunately has a difference of opinion than I do. Very empowering or not, they get to make the final decision. Like I said, I respect his opinion and I understand where he’s coming from, but he also has to understand where I’m coming from. I cannot accept this. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank Dr. Kelly for her answer. Again, if I look at the numbers, if you go to page 81, there seems to be more positions in the water resource management area than there is into this environmental area. Some regions have three positions, and they already have one in there. Was this part of the functional review that the department did when they decided to remove this position? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that. Could the Minister advise where we find this other position? Is it in another department or division within this department? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In my opening comments I talked about the elimination of the environmental protection officer in the Deh Cho. On page 73 they have four environmental positions in the regions. Can the Minister please advise: are these positions all the same? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to elaborate a little further from my colleague from Yellowknife North and my colleague from Mackenzie Delta. My first concern I would have to say is the reduction of the environmental protection officer in the Deh Cho. This has an impact with our mandate in the development of our work within our smaller communities. This position, from what I understand in talking from the community's standpoint, is important for them to continue to grow, and this is one of the areas that I will have to steadfast ask questions about why it's being reduced.

The second comment...

I thank the Minister for that answer. That is pretty exciting news, to see that that money is there. Can the Minister tell us how many schools already have at least one PST teacher in place? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for his answer. I guess I'm just looking at springtime when the fire crews are ready to go and there are no fires, it is a perfect opportunity to utilize that staff in the communities and surrounding areas to maybe potentially fire smart their communities to start with. So that's where I'm looking is existing staff that are not fighting fires presently, and I believe each community does have a fire suppressant crew that could potentially be put to work in the short term to start helping them.

I appreciate the department working with the communities...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I will be asking questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, as we have seen in the main estimates, ECE has planned to cut $1.8 million from inclusive schooling. ECE has since confirmed to leaving $1.3 million alone and dedicated the rest to a specialized training group for PST teachers. Since this isn't reflected in the mains, where is the department going to find this money, whether it is internally, through a supplemental or presented to this House or both? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.