Yes. The Member is correct. That's exactly what we were expecting.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Glad to see the fund getting back into a healthier position. Just really good work that happens there in terms of beverage container recycling, electronics recycling, but I have a couple of other questions further into the departmental budget on those things. Thanks.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Did you want the Minister to respond? Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just under timber permits and licences, I know a few years back when we started doing the volunteer permitting for driftwood, anybody that collected driftwood, it seems like the department is making it mandatory now. I would just like to get a little information on that.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Mr. Campbell.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The use of forest products does require a free timber cutting permit. At this point, harvesters, I guess, want to use driftwood, also require those free timber cutting permits. We do, however, at this point acknowledge that we were undertaking a review of our Forest Management Act, and certainly, this is another area that we will review with our partners when we undertake the review of that legislation. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Campbell. Mr. Blake?
Yes, thank you. Mr. Chair, at the time I recall it pretty clearly, because I saw on the renewable resource consult when it came up in the meeting. You know, at the time it was told to the people, as it's voluntary. It's just there to keep track of how much wood is being used. I know it's not a big deal to get the permit. It's just the actual process of making it mandatory. I think it should go back to the communities, just so people are more aware of it. Thanks.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Mr. Campbell.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is correct that we do use the free timber cutting permits to track use of fiber or fluid, et cetera, for the residents of the Northwest Territories. As we go forward, as I mentioned, we will look at this area of using driftwood and whether a permit is required in the future. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Campbell. Mr. Blake? Nothing further? Are there any other questions or comments? Mr. Nadli?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to the Minister, I just wanted to understand further to my colleague's points on timber permits and licences, there seems to be a significant decline over the past two years or so in terms of revenues from 2014 15 of $215,000 and dropped down to $5,000. Am I correct in that? Is that the right amount, $5,000?
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister Schumann?
We'll have to get back to the Member on that particular question.
Mr. Nadli?
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. If maybe the Minister or his officials could explain what was perhaps the flat line in timber permits and the licences. You know, there seems to be the understanding that through devolution there's a greater responsibility in terms of the appropriation of lands, and especially for forest products, whether that's something that we should expect as a continuum? Maybe next year’s actuals could remain at $5,000 as well? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Mr. Campbell.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Going forward, we certainly expect the revenues in that area to increase. The Member's aware, we do have forest management agreements in place with one of his communities and another community in the South Slave where this will result in economic opportunities. We’re in the process of getting that forest industry underway. We're not quite there yet with our agreements with the proponent, but once these items have been worked out, we will see an increase in revenues in that area. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Campbell. Mr. Nadli. Nothing further. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think I'll actually wait until page 107 with this question here. I thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Seeing no one further on my list, we can move on to page 81, active position summary. Comments or questions? Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to thank the department for starting the fire crew in Tsiigehtchic once again. It's the second year after they had a lay-off of about eight years, I believe, or six to eight years anyway. It's good to see that we're actually training more people and, you know, being more prepared for major fires here. You know, hopefully, knock on wood, that the rest of the summer we don't have much activity in fires, but it's always better to be prepared and have people on standby. As we were saying in the briefings, you know, it's better to put these fires out before they get too large. You know, I hope that we practice that over the summer. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Would the Minister like to respond to Mr. Blake's kind words?
Thank you.
Anything further, Mr. Blake?
Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, in terms of the active positions summary, it says Dehcho, and the positions that are noted are 15. Can I get a distinction between Dehcho and Nahendeh? I know Dehcho kind of is presented as is. I mean, it's like there's 15 positions in my riding, and I really would like that, but from what I understand, Dehcho would mean either Fort Simpson or Fort Providence. Can I have some distinction in terms of which positions are situated either in the Fort Simpson region versus Fort Providence? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Mr. Campbell.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Those 15 positions reflect the communities of Fort Simpson, Fort Liard, Wrigley, those communities. They don't include the positions in Kakisa and Fort Providence, those positions are identified under the South Slave administrative region. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Campbell. Mr. Nadli. Next on my list is Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Could the Minister please provide us examples of what these part-time positions are about and what they entail? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Ms. Craig.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have a part-time position, community support clerk, in Fort Providence, we have a patrolman in Ulukhaktok, we have patrolmen in other northern communities such as Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, and Tsiigehtchic, a corporate services clerk in Fort Liard, and an office cleaner in Fort Simpson.
Thank you, Ms. Craig. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. With part-time, what is that? Is that 20 hours a week? What are the hours of employment during this time? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Ms. Craig.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It would be hours less than 37.5 per week.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. are they full-time part-time or are they part-time just like half days? I'm confused with the 37.5 hours, less than, if it's 37 that's part-time. What's the duration of hours that these folks normally use? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Ms. Craig or, rather, Minister Schumann.
As per the collective agreement, 37.5 is considered a part-time full-time position.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
I think I'm even more confused now. 37.5 is full-time part-time? Is it an eight-hour day or is it a 7.5-hour day? Because if it's an eight-hour day, is it 40 hours a week; if it's 37.5, that means it's a 7.5-hour day. I guess just to clarify what the Minister meant by that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Schumann or, rather, Ms. Craig.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. 37.5 hours per week as per the collective agreement is a full-time position. Hours less than that would be part-time. These positions are permanent part-time positions, so they have a set number of hours per their letter of offer; it might be 20 hours; it may be 15 hours per week. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Craig. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank Ms. Craig for the answer. Now that I understand them, I'm good to go on this. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Any further questions for page 81? Seeing none, we'll move on to conservation, assessment and monitoring, page 83 is the operations expenditure summary. We'll defer that until we look at the detail on page 84. Are there comments or questions on page 84? Mr. Blake.
