Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm more than willing to meet with the Member and then reach out to the finance minister to have those conversations. Again, this is the finance Minister's responsibility but I'm more than willing to work with the Member to meet with the Minister on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for the question. And the Member did bring it up to my attention and I did a little bit of research on that.

So the honorarium rate is set out with the financial administration manual with the Department of Finance. I can't speak on why or when the rate was set, but I can say that the honorarium is paid to individuals attending the meetings and other official businesses. But I'm willing to meet with the Minister with the Member and the Minister of Finance to get further information on this. And, again, I'd like to thank the Member for bringing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the definition of "emergency" speaks to events of unusual proportion. The criteria clearly outlines the requirements for an event to affect a large area or a number of people. Across Canada, and the majority of the world, disaster assistance programs are not applied to events affecting a single property. The intent of such disaster assistance programs are to ensure the continued function of a community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the disaster assistance program is a governmentfunded assistance program to ensure essential community functions and cover the basic needs of residents and businesses. That is not an insurance program that covers all losses or is applied to events affecting a single property.

Mr. Speaker, the requirement is for only applying the DAP for widespread damage in line with the disaster assistance policy across Canada with the criteria of the federal disastrous financial assistance arrangement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, like I said, I'm more than willing to meet with the Member and the Minister to discuss this. Traditional knowledge is very important. And, again, when we reach out to our elders, that's our foundation so their knowledge and information is very helpful. So like I said, I will work with the Member and to have that conversation with the finance minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can tell you ENR, through the traditional knowledge policy, recognizes Indigenous traditional knowledge as an essential source of information about natural environment and the relationship of people on the land and to each other. I can tell you our traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge helps us develop our policies. So, yes, we find it very important to reach out to our Indigenous partners moving forward with our policies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the DAP was evaluated and approved following the 2021 flood and, again, is under revision this year as we have learned since applying it to the 2022 flood. While no policy is perfect, we are confident in meeting the intent to help communities and residents recover from a widespread disaster.

Mr. Speaker, DAP is not a compensation program and is not an insurance program that covers all losses. It is a governmentfunded assistance program to ensure essential community functions and covers the essential basic needs of residents and businesses. Thank you, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The definition in the disaster assistance program are in line with the disaster assistance policies across Canada. The definition of "emergency" does not exclude tornados and has provisions to include any other sudden events of unusual proportion caused by nature's phenomenon. This leaves the opportunity for tornados to be considered if either criteria for applying this policy are met and if the results is a widespread situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for the question. Current provisions for recreational or residential leases does not allow for commercial activities such as an Airbnb. Having a home business or a B and B is considered a commercial endeavour. In most jurisdictions, it requires a commercial lease as well as business license. Commercial leases are available to the public now in appropriate zoned areas. If this is a desire, lessees should reach out to the department to discuss the parameters for changing the use of their lease and potential issues that may need to be considered...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member is aware, we are wrapping up the review of the land leaseonly policy, and I committed to providing the results prior to the end of this sitting. However, we are aware that land resources and selfgovernment agreements are under negotiations, and we continue to work to ensure that land is managed appropriately under these agreements that are under negotiations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.