Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand the position is panterritorial. Take, for example, fishing. I believe 1.3 million pounds came out of the South Slave, was brought to the fish plant in Hay River. I think 10,000 or 16,000 pounds came out of the North Slave and 10,000 came out from up in the Beaufort. So when you have 90some per cent of the production happening in a certain area, why won't you focus efforts in that area, especially when it is such a promising one?
I see my time is up, but that is just maybe something to think about, and that is something I will come back to over and over again. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Go ahead to the commentary, Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to make it quite clear. This position that is in Yellowknife, it is panterritorial. It is not just fish. It is agriculture, and it does fur, so it does a number of things. I guess when we come back to the first page and, when we close off on ITI at the end of all this, you will see the layout and how we have redirected the supports around some of this stuff. That is the reason that job is in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. A number of my colleagues have asked some of my questions, but they have opened up the door for a number of other questions. The Business Development and Investment Corporation, the corporation is developing a corporate plan. The Minister said it is going to be tabled by April 1st. We are done here on March 10th, so is it going to be done by March 10th and tabled in the House, or is it going to be tabled in our later sitting? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Member for asking that question. Actually, I have to approve it by April 1st, and then it will be tabled in the summer. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So we won't see anything until the summertime. Potentially, if it takes a while for the department to look over it, it could be the fall time. So when will the Minister commit that this report will be tabled in this House? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Let's make it quite clear. They can't go forward with their corporate plan until the budget is passed in the Legislative Assembly for this next fiscal year, so that is tied to that. Once it is done and I approve it, then, whenever the next sitting is after the spring session, that is when we will be tabling it. I thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for informing us that they can't do anything until this budget is passed. Well, we understand that, so now we are going through the business here.
When it comes down to the SEED program, and we are talking about that, is the department developing an evaluation? You are talking about looking at it, but, if you are going to look at it, there should be an evaluation put forth so we can actually make an informed decision in seeing what is out there. Is the department going to develop an evaluation program? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I have said, we are doing a review of this right now. We are having a look at it internally. I have directed the department to see, like I said, best value for money and if we are targeting the right stuff. If something comes forward that is a red flag for us, we will definitely be sharing it with committee and deciding what we are going to do moving forward and if we are going to do a fullblown review. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for his answer. Unfortunately, it is internal. It should be a review. It should be an evaluation process. We need to have informed information to make informed decisions. If we are looking at the SEED program to make it more efficient to do that, you need to do an evaluation. So will the Minister work with the department to come up with an evaluation process that will actually look at the program, and not just do it internally but have an evaluation program to it? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I just said, we are going to do what I said we are going to do. I have directed the department to have a look at it and, if there are some red flags, we will bring it forward and decide if we are going to do a review.
To get back to the earlier question that I got on this department earlier, grants and contributions has a number of initiatives and information on where this money, what sectors it is being spent on. My concern, as I said, is: are we doing this in an effective manner? This is the early stage of this. I am not saying that I would not do a full review of it, but, as the Minister, I want to have a look at it, just because I feel that we could be targeting certain sectors and different communities, maybe, or regions in a different manner than we are. Once, if I find something that is a red flag for me, that we need to do, we will bring it forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We could be going back and forth. I disagree with the Minister. If we are going to look at a program, we should be evaluating it so we can make informed decisions. I will leave it at that. Going forth, when they are talking about this agricultural strategy, have they worked with the Department of Lands as they move forward with this strategy? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I said in my earlier comments, we are working with not just Lands, but we are working with Health and Social Services and ENR on this whole issue. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for his answer. However, we have heard in some issues out there that Lands especially from my riding, I have heard from a number of people wishing to develop this Lands is a big issue. The biggest challenge going, it is not ITI, it is not Health and Social Services, but it is Lands. So I guess my question is: will the department work with Lands, because that seems to be the biggest challenge, to address these issues that are out there? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I have said, we are working with all departments, crossdepartmental, on how to move this initiative forward. Agricultural strategy is only getting tabled here. Hopefully in this session we are going to bring that forward and table that. It is part of our portfolio to diversify the economy of the Northwest Territories, and we believe that there is valid investment into it.
It has hit a roadblock on the Lands issue. We are going to work on that to try to get that alleviated so the people who want to go into superlarge commercial farming in the Northwest Territories will be able to do that, but this is the government of the territory, and some of this stuff takes time to work its way through. We will continue to do that so the people who want to tackle agriculture as an industry and help the Northwest Territories move forward with this initiative, well, we will all work together to do that. That is what we intend to do. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Actually, I am very happy to hear that answer. That is potential for moving forward. In regards to this program, was there any money left over, left at the table, since this is a federal and a territorial combination? Is there money left over on the table? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This was a five-year initiative by the federal government, the territorial government. We are on our last remaining year, and we are working with the federal government on Growing Forward 3, and how we are going to try to access as much money as we can through another issue through cross-departmental initiatives to see what fits within Growing Forward 3 with the federal government to leverage the most dollars we can for the residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess I just have to come back to the question. I understand it's the last year, but is there any money left at the table? We left at the table with this program. Has it just been implemented? Have all the funds been utilized, or has it been left at the table? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As we have said, it is a five-year initiative, and we are in our last year. I guess we will have to see who all comes forward to apply for some of this stuff, and what initiatives we move forward. We won't know until the end of the five years, but I suspect that we probably would not have any money left at the end of that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good to hear that. I am glad we are not leaving money at the table. My last question is, one of my colleagues asked about the BIP, local versus northern. You said that you're not looking at the northern component to it. Can you please explain why that is not being looked at? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. What I said was, we are not looking at the local component of 5 per cent that local people get. We are looking at the BIP, making sure all the registered people within the BIP system are compliant. That is what we are doing right now. We have one more region to finish up, as I said, the North Slave region, as it being the largest, probably, subscriber to BIP, entrance to the BIP. Once that is done, then, we will look at how these people meet the BIP policy, and if we are going to have a review of it moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I realize my time's going to come up real quick. I guess the thing is, I understand the BIP, and I totally understand the government doing that, or the department doing that. However, there are two components of BIP: there is the territories; and there is local. That needs to be looked at, and see how that is being implemented so we can make sure that we are doing it properly. So I hope once they have done BIP, that the Minister and the department will look at the local component of it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Would the Minister like to respond?
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Next is Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have some questions on page 202 on grants and contributions. I see the film industry rebate program; last year, the main estimates were $206,000. Again, the same was totally used in revised estimates. Why is it dropping down to $100,000 this year? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have a film rebate program that sunsets at the end of 2017-18. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The entire program is sunsetting at the end of this year? Is that what the Minister said? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
