Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll find out. If there are no types of conflicts, certainly we can do that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Anybody who has walked downtown in Yellowknife these days knows how active the tourist sector is. We have tourists walking in our neighbourhood now. I live on Forrest Drive, and they are walking in the neighbourhood, looking for things to do. We have got to find a better way to provide services for the tourists that do come here. We want to make sure that they are made welcome and that they have more activities to do than just walking around in neighbourhoods, which is fine if they want to learn about Yellowknife, but I am sure we can do a lot better. Thanks, Mr. Chair. That is all that I have.
Thank you. Any closing comments from the Minister on that? Nothing from the Minister. Anything further from committee? Seeing none, I will call this activity. Tourism and parks, operations expenditure summary, $16,290,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Committee, that is the end of our activities. There are four information items on pages 227 to 234. Members can have the opportunity to speak once to these items as a whole. Mr. O'Reilly, you have 10 minutes to speak to the information items on pages 227 to 234.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I don't think I'm going to need 10 minutes, but I guess some of it is going to depend on the Minister's answers. On Page 230, the environmental studies research fund, are there actually any oil and gas leases out there that pay levies into this fund anymore? Given the total lack of any activity, are there any levies continuing to come in here? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My understanding is that the levies are still coming in, and the rates are staying at the same as they were last year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I probably should have had a closer look at this myself before I asked the question. On 230, 20182019, it shows a revenue of zero or just a line, but the previous two years, either the revised estimates or the actuals, were $292,000. What is happening in 20182019? Have all of those leases been given up or surrendered? Are there any revenues coming in? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Ms. Mujcin.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is basically a timing situation in regard to when the levies are issued to interest holders and when they are reflected in this particular schedule. They are issued in the first quarter of a calendar year. It's basically just a timing situation. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Mujcin. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. If I wasn't confused before, I certainly am now. The department, then, anticipates $292,000 coming in, but it's just going to happen at the end of the first quarter of 20182019? If so, why wouldn't the figure be put in here? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As Ms. Mujcin said, it is a timing issue, and we should be able to maybe provide the actual number closer to the end of March, the end of this quarter, what the actually number will be, but we anticipate it is probably going to be less than the $292,000 you see here because there are less hectares. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks. Can the Minister then commit to provide that information to committee? I am just curious to know what the levy is, how many leaseholders are out there, or the other areas that are under lease. I am sure that stuff could be put together in a table. Could that be provided to committee? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Yes, we can do that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that commitment from the Minister. I have expressed some concerns in the past about how representative and accountable the board is who administers this fund. It consists of government representatives and industry representatives. I think there is supposed to be one public representative. Is all of that going to be up for reconsideration when the Petroleum Resources Act comes up for review? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I believe that will be part of the PRA review. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the commitment of the Minister on that one, and I think that is all I have for this portion of the budget. Sorry, one other, on 227, is BDIC. The accumulated surplus is shown on the bottom of the page there. Is this the amount that the Minister is talking about changing or allowing the corporation to use as part of its program dollars that they are not authorized to do right now? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Yes, that is correct. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. That is all that I have.
Thank you. There are no further comments from committee on pages 227 to 231, the information items? Seeing none, we can move back to the activity, the departmental total on page 207. The departmental total along with associated information, including revenues and positions, is found on pages 204 to 209. Do we have comments, questions? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. My questions are on 208, the revenues. Minerals, oil and gas royalties, are there any oil and gas royalties predicted for 2018-2019? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will have to check with the department and get back to the Member on that one. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, that would be helpful to know. The "Licenses, rental and other fees," can someone just tell me what those are comprised of? Can someone just explain a little bit more about what that is? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That line item includes revenue from the mining recorder's office of rentals, prospecting licence permit fees, claim fees, and other administrative fees related to the registry documents. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. It has declined precipitously, from over $20 million in 2016-2017 to $2.3 million. Does this just reflect a lot less activity that is going on? Are these reduced fees or something here? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That was the bid deposit stuff from the Sahtu that was forfeited. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think the Minister is referring to the large total for 2016-2017. That was, I don’t know, MGM or something that decided not to proceed with exploration, so they forfeited a large amount of money. Is that what that is? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I won't say who they were, but we can give committee a detailed item list of that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess, my last point, I don't really expect a response necessarily from the Minister. I have already said this before. We have raised more revenues now from tobacco taxes than the oil and gas and mining royalties. We get $16 million in tobacco taxes. For mining, oil, and gas royalties, we get $13.4, maybe $13.5. The liquor commission revenues are $24.7 million, about twice what we get from mining, oil, and gas royalties. This, to me, demonstrates the need for us to examine how we collect these revenues and whether they are appropriate or not and whether we are getting a fair share of the revenues from oil and gas and mining. I don't understand why this is being delayed to the next Assembly. Then again, I don't expect a response from the Minister. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
