Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I notice that Business Development Investment Corporation is dropping by almost a half a million dollars. I was wondering if the Minister could just explain that decrease? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. BDIC is aware of this reduction, of course, and it's a reflection of their corporate plan that's coming out. First of all, we don’t think that's going to have an impact on any of their programs and services, and the reason that we've done this is just part of our reduction exercise across the board. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, during my travels into my riding, there have been many occasions when individuals have asked for support to get into some sort of economic development. I have the program SEED, Support Entrepreneurial and Economic Development. The budget hasn't grown, in fact, compared the last fiscal year that that has been closed off. It's gone down a bit. Not a whole lot, but 70-some-thousand dollars. I'm wondering if this program is fully subscribed or if there's money left after the SEED Program is delivered? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. SEED is usually fully subscribed right across the Northwest Territories. The one thing that I've looked at since I became the Minister of ITI is how are we using SEED and how effective is the SEED Program being implemented for economic development in the Northwest Territories. I could speak of this program because, before I got elected, I used this program to start off my business and I imagine there are a couple other people in this building who have done as such. It's a great program; but once I became the Minister of ITI and had to look at SEED, how it's being implemented in the regions, I believe that we need to have a little better look at how we're using the money for this program. Is it actually going to create economic development and diversify our economy in the small communities? That's one of the things that, as a Minister, I'm having the department have a good hard look at. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, has the department determined that this program isn’t achieving its objective? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe SEED is an important part of our portfolio to help diversify the economy, help entrepreneurs get into business, help support businesspeople in the Northwest Territories. What I'm saying is I believe that we need to have a serious look if we are using this program effectively in a way, in a manner that helps diversify and grow our economy, and just have a harder look at how we're actually using this money. That's my goal as the Minister of ITI. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, a quick check, I guess: under this economic diversification and business support is there an opportunity to speak on the Business Incentive Policy?
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister, can you advise? Is this the appropriate place to speak about the Business Incentive Policy?
Yes, I believe it is, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chair, I'd like to ask the Minister if the department is still contemplating possible review or maybe revamping of the Business Incentive Policy, first question. Second question is: is the Business Incentive Policy meeting its intended objective?
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just had to get it clarified because I know we're doing some stuff. Well, constantly we're always reviewing BIP, of course. BIP is a big part of giving people in the Northwest Territories, businesses that are up here, a kind of a head's up or leg up on southern people competing against us.
We're doing a review right now of all registrants of BIP; I think we're almost done most regions. We're still trying to finish off the North Slave, as it probably has the most number of registered BIP companies in the Northwest Territories. We're trying to make sure that the registered BIP companies are compliant to the policies that we have, and that's one of the reviews that we're doing. So we're not doing a full-blown review on BIP right now, but we are always currently working with the BIP program and doing a review and make sure that it's doing what it's supposed to do. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I'm wondering if the review is going to include the community portion of BIP? Right now there's certainly an advantage for NWT BIP companies over southern companies; I should say, it sort of evens the playing field between North and South, but I'm wondering if the Minister is also looking at the difference between North and local? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister, you have one minute to answer.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There's already a difference in local and northern because a local person gets an extra percentage for BIP versus a company that's from outside the community, so that's already in place. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I'm not asking if there's a difference; I know there's that threshold. I'm asking if that threshold is being reviewed also. The Minister answered the question previously saying, "We're always reviewing BIP, it sort of gives a leg up to the northern companies versus southern companies." My question was specific to northern versus local. Is that part also being looked at? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The answer is no, we're not at this present time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Beaulieu, your time has expired. Mr. Testart is next.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I'm just going to jump right into my honourable friend's -- or follow up on my honourable friend's comments.
The concern I hear from constituents who are business owners is that in some cases there are companies that have been grandfathered into BIP that are no longer 100 per cent northern-based, although they may have a portion of northern ownership. So are we taking that approach in evaluating BIP, if it's still meeting its objectives?
If you have a company that is owned by, let's say, a European holding corporation but still has a branch in the Northwest Territories that is on a preferred procurement list, is that really what we were trying to achieve with BIP in the first place and are we evaluating it along those lines? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess to get right to the crux of his question, we're having a hard look at the 51 per cent ownership portion of BIP and we're having a look at it and seeing if anything can be done at all. We are having a look at it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Schumann. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and before I go any further I just want to acknowledge the presence of Mr. Tom Jensen, the Deputy Minister for ITI. I believe this is his first appearance as a witness in this Chamber.
There's a lot to cover in this section. We've talked a bit about SEED. I'd like to talk a bit about the agricultural strategy. We heard from the Department of Lands -- the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment heard from the Department of Lands, and they indicated that there may be some difficulty in this department's ability to properly access land for agricultural development. So what kind of internal resources have been allocated to the development of the agricultural strategy, and do we have dedicated resources and staff working on this very important initiative? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll redirect that to the deputy minister. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Deputy Minister Jensen.
We do have dedicated resources working within the department to develop the strategy, and the strategy is actually going to be tabled in this session. We have a penultimate or final draft of it, and we will be tabling it in this session. So the actual strategy has been completed primarily using internal resources at this time, but previously we did contract some resources to start the work; but we are there right now and have completed the piece of work and it will be tabled.
Thank you, Deputy Minister Jensen. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate that. With the tabling of the strategy, are we going to see resources or money dedicated to implementing this strategy as we saw with the Economic Opportunity Strategy? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As we roll out this strategy and bring it to the House in this Assembly we're probably going to use internal resources to initially kick it off. As the Member said, there's a number of legislative things that need to be worked out to fully implement the strategy around the lands issue in particular in the Northwest Territories and we are working with other departments, Health and Social Services and ENR, on this initiative on how we're going to do that. At some point, I think as the thing gains traction in the next couple of years. I don't think this is something that's going to be resolved overnight; we're going to have to start looking at how we're going to fund this moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The reduction of the BDIC annual contribution in the amount of $477,000, what is the rationale for that cut? If the Minister can answer. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, as I said earlier, this is one of the reductions that we've asked the department to take. They're fully aware of our ask and they told us that they could move forward without any implications on their funding or supports for small business in the Northwest Territories. So it's part of our budget reduction for the department, and we've asked them to basically take a haircut and they said they can do it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That's an expensive haircut; it's 15 per cent of their operating budget. So, I mean, this feels all too familiar to what we see with Aurora College, where they were asked to make a reduction. They apparently are developing a strategic plan or a corporate plan and yet decisions are being made prior to the release of that plan. So can the Minister just clarify, Minister, you said there was a corporate plan being developed for BDIC. What is the status of that? Is ITI involved in developing it and when will it be available for review by committee and honourable Members of this Assembly? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. BDIC is working on their own corporate plan, but I believe that we have to table it before April 1st of this year in the House, so that will be coming forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Testart.
