Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on the advice of the Member, we can commit to go back and have a look at it, and see what it might take to repair. We will have a look at it. Simple answer.
Thank you, Minister. Anything further, Mr. Thompson?
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Minister. Again, we are not asking for the tower to be built. It is more putting a cellular antenna on there, and the community is looking to do that. The next question is the CL215 water bombers. Have we sold those? Because I notice there are still a number of these airplanes still at the end of the runway by Buffalo. Have these planes been sold because they are not going to be used anymore by the government? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. The tenders have closed. We are reviewing the offers, and once a decision is made, then I will update committee.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
I thank the Minister for that, and I look forward to his update. That would be all for my questions for this department. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. There is no one further on my list for general comments, so we can move into the consideration of the department. We will defer the departmental total until after consideration of the activity detail, the first of which can be found on page 20, with an associated information item on page 21, Environment and Natural Resources, forest management, infrastructure investments, $2,274,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Moving on to page 22. Environment and Natural Resources, water resources, infrastructure investments, $300,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Moving on to page 24, with an associated information item on page 25, Environment and Natural Resources, wildlife, infrastructure investments, $400,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Please return to page 16. I will call the departmental total, Environment and Natural Resources, total capital estimates, $2,974,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Environment and Natural Resources?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Thank you to the Minister and his witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber. Committee, we have agreed to next consider the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Would the Minister like to bring any witnesses into the Chamber? Minister Schumann.
Yes, I would, Mr. Chair.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, please introduce your witnesses to the Chamber.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my immediate left is Julie Mujcin, director of finance; on my immediate right is Deputy Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment Tom Jensen.
Thank you, Minister. Welcome to the witnesses. I will open the floor up for general comments on the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, which begins on page 37 of the capital estimates. Any general comments on Industry, Tourism and Investment? Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am looking at the Tourism and Parks page. I know the Minister had good news to share yesterday about the number of tourists and, of course, most of them came by air and they are staying in hotels, but I do want to note that there were a lot of people who came to the Northwest Territories to camp. I'm a camper as well, and there were a number of times when parks were at or near capacity.
In addition to these incremental changes that are in the schedule here on pages 40 to 42, I'm wondering if the department is considering the development of additional spaces in any of the parks; that is to say, additional loops or additional parks themselves. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. With the rise in numbers that is occurring right now, the Member is accurate. A number of these people are flying in here, but the rubber traffic is also increasing, not just locally, which is a large uptick on it, but we are looking at additional loops possibly in the North Slave. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm sorry; I was just grabbing my earpiece here. I don't think I heard an answer to my question about how to accommodate more campers in the NWT road- accessible parks. Thank you
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm sorry she didn't get to hear that, but we are looking at putting additional loops in the North Slave region in particular due to the amount of rubber traffic increase. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you. I appreciate him repeating that information. Is there any thought to putting additional loops into any of the other campgrounds that are along the highway network that comes from Alberta to the North Slave? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are constantly re-evaluating the use of all our parks within the Northwest Territories and we will continue to do so, so the short answer to her question is we are continually evaluating them and looking at how we are going to expand the use of the areas that are maximized. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Those were all my questions on this topic. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Next, Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Similar to that area, Fort Liard Highway, NWT/BC border pullout pavilion there, I notice that it's not going to have a VI centre, it's just going to be a pavilion put up there. Is there a reason why the department hasn't looked at putting a VI centre at that location, considering that they have one at the NWT/Alberta border and then they have one in Dawson City as well? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Right now we're just looking at putting this pavilion in there and upgrading what we can and then we will keep re-evaluating moving forward, as we have a 20-year plan on how we're going to move forward on these assets. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that answer. When he talks about re-evaluating, how are we going to able to justify the numbers that are going through there? I guess the question is: how are they going to re-evaluate the importance of having a VIC centre in there if they don't have somebody checking the numbers? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Like I said, we have a 20-year plan moving forward, but we re-evaluate all our parks and usage of these facilities on an annual basis and we will continue to do so. Once we have the numbers in based on the traffic that's crossing at this border, we'll have another look at it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand you're going to re-evaluate and you're going to look at your 20-year plan, but the community would like to see a VIC centre in there, and a lot of the tourists who are coming through there are looking for that when they show up. I have to applaud the department for putting a pavilion there and it's greatly appreciated, but a VIC centre would have a huge impact on the community and also the region in the southern territories, if people would be going up there and have that opportunity. Will the Minister work with the community to see the feasibility of putting a VIC centre in there? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I've said, we have our 20-year plan and we re-evaluate our plan every year, and we will have discussions with the community moving forward on what we could possibly do at this location. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you and I thank the Minister for the commitment to work with the community on that. With the Fort Simpson Territorial Park and site there, I notice we're doing some work with the roadways and it's greatly appreciated, and the signs, but is the department looking at completing the brushing in that area? Because there are certain areas that it's really blocked up. It's the Fort Simpson Territorial Park, it's on page 40. Are they going to be looking at clearing up the brush there so it's clean? It will help eliminate wildlife walking through there. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
