Thanks, Mr. Chair. On page 70, the words "climate change" appear, so I am just wondering if the Minister or his staff can just talk a little bit about what sort of capacity they have within the department with regard to climate change? How many staff are working on it? What do they generally do, and so on? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I respect the Member's concern. That detail of information, offhand, we just do not have. We can confirm the numbers as well as some of the functions that they provide. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister tell me when we might be able to expect to get that information? I am just very conscious of the amount of time we have left to sort out the departmental budgets and so on. When can I expect to get this information from the department? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We will endeavour to get that information to the Member immediately.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I look forward to that bedtime reading. I don't know if anybody can answer this question or not, but I will try it. What kind of coordination, collaboration is there between ENR and Public Works and Services and, I guess, maybe Finance the same Minister with regard to carbon pricing? I think we heard maybe today at noon that there is some kind of a working group or something, but can anybody tell me who is on the working group, what they do and so on? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I will speak to the Minister of Finance because Finance is the lead on the carbon, and I will ask him to put some information together for the Member. I will also ask him to try to have that information ready before Finance comes up. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Okay. I am happy to get that information. I'm just a little bit surprised that nobody at the table seems to know this sort of information because it's a big area of work within the department, but I'm happy to get it as quickly as they can put it together. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have a pretty good idea or we do know, but, as I said before, it is a Finance lead and I think it's more appropriate that your questions be directed to Finance. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, on page 70 I'd like to just ask the Minister about the area of contaminated sites and remediation. On the contaminated sites and remediation there's $319,000 in there. I see that this is for developing programs and policies to manage and remediate contaminated sites. So I guess my question is: is there a budget and how does the whole budgeting work between when you actually are remediating the site, when you hire a contractor to go in there and do remediation, where does that money come from? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Dr. Kelly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. You're correct that the money that's in here is for planning and developing guidance, and money that is for contaminated sites to actually do the work would be through the Environmental Liabilities Fund with the Department of Finance. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Dr. Kelly. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I recognize that it's another department. Instead of going through the process of asking the question again then, I was wondering if this department knows how much money is in the Environmental -- I forget the term, but the money that's in Finance to do the actual cleanup? Could somebody tell me how much money is there? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I can't seem to find the exact amount, but I will get the exact amount for the Member. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Same topic. Could the Minister tell me if this money is mainly money used just to leverage other money from the federal government? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister McLeod.
My apologies to the Member, but would he be able to repeat the question?
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I was just wondering if the money that's in this Environmental Liabilities Fund is money that's generally there to leverage other money or if that's the full pot to clean up the contaminated sites that are the responsibility of the GNWT? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the answer is no the money is not there to leverage other money, it's there for environmental liabilities. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, is that cleaning up liabilities for only contaminated sites that are the responsibility of the GNWT? How does the contaminated sites retained by the federal government work in as far as remediation? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Member is correct, that money is for the environmental sites that are administered by the GNWT, and for the ones that are administered by Canada or that Canada has the responsibility for remediating they will pay for that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you. I'd like to know if the Minister would be able to provide the amount of money that is in that fund and what we're responsible for. I'm trying to get an indication of whether or not we're ever going to clean up the sites. So if there's only a million dollars and there is $150 million's worth of contaminated sites, I'll have a good indication that we are never going to catch up, but I'd like to get those numbers so that we could have a feel for them. I'm not expecting the numbers now, but if the Minister could commit to providing that, and, if possible, also the same information for the fund that the federal government is responsible for. Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's it.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'll make that commitment to provide the Member with the amount of money that's in there. As far as the federal government, I can't make that commitment. We really don't know what's in the federal government fund. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Next we have Mr. Thompson.
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. Thompson. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, these positions are not all the same but they do have similar functions, though. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that answer. So can the Minister please advise us why the Deh Cho position was cut over the other regions? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we do have another position in the community that can provide the same functions as the one that has been eliminated. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Thompson.
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. Thompson. Minister McLeod.
