Thank you, Dr. Dragon. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. We still do not have a Bathurst caribou range plan, and not one square centimetre of habitat has been set aside or protected in any way for this herd. So far the harvesters have, and the Minister talked about this, made extraordinary efforts, and they have restricted their harvesting now for the last three or four winters. The harvesters are doing their part. Our government is not doing our part on protecting the habitat. When are we going to see a completed range plan that's going to start to look at habitat protection, more than just caribou protection measures on harvesting, but caribou protection measures to restrict industrial activities that are going to get in the way of caribou when they are moving around? When are we going to start to look at habitat protection for the Bathurst caribou herd? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister McLeod.
I will go to Dr. Dragon.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Dr. Dragon.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Right now with the Bathurst herd, looking at our opportunities to work with our co-management partners on the harvesting restrictions has worked well. I can tell you that our enforcement in the mobile zone and looking at adherence to that mobile zone has been very, very positive. In terms of working through a full-blown plan, we are still in the midst of that plan. We have been doing multiple plans, coming to the government with the opportunities to see how we are managing the herds. I will just have to come back with a date of when we plan to actually produce that range plan. Thank you.
Thank you, Dr. Dragon. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 90, I see field operations, and it has gone down. I guess the Minister is going to like my question; it is going to be about moose in my riding and that. My concern is that, in my riding, we do not see a lot of wildlife officers out there during the weekend and so, with this cut, will we be able to see an increase in people out monitoring hunting on the roadside? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we get our folks out monitoring all the time, and then we have also made known, I have heard this concern when I was in a meeting with some of the Member's constituents in Nahendeh, and we also said that, if they have any indication of any suspicious activity or not adhering to the Wildlife Act, then to report it; but we try to get our folks out as much as we can, and get them out patrolling and so they are out there being seen. It was a concern that was raised and we are hoping to take steps to try and address it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that. I know we are going through a study right now about moose and that. Has the department looked at potential further studies this fiscal year coming up on the moose, or is it just being implemented this year and that's it? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we initially did one survey in November. There was another one done in February. We are still analyzing the results, and in my commitment to the leadership of the Nahendeh when I was touring with the Member, we did commit to come back to them. I believe they are having a summit, maybe in the fall. I cannot remember the exact date, but they are having a summit with a lot of communities coming in, and we said we should have our information all analyzed. We will present it to them at that time.
In the meantime, if we do get the analysis done sooner, then I will have a conversation with the Member and he will be able to share some of the findings with his constituents. I have made a commitment to have our focus at the meeting that is coming up with a lot of the representation from around Nahendeh. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, the Minister was very clear in his commitment to the communities, and they heard that. I guess what I was looking for is: is this a yearly study that we look at, or is it over a two-year period or a three-year period? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister McLeod.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. It is every two years that we will be doing the work. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate that answer. It does help when we are presenting things there. I guess the next question in regard to this is the hunting on the corridor. I found it very interesting, as I had the opportunity to travel with the Minister and his staff, some of the things that we actually don't do or allow people to do, like hunting with lights and stuff like that.
Has the Minister and the department looked at potentially addressing this issue in the upcoming year? It seems to be not really hunting, I guess, you would call it. There have been some concerns, and I think during the oral questions he talked about addressing hunting on the side there. Would the department be looking at making more regulations to that so that they are actually off the roadside, that it is actually 50 metres off, and they have to hunt in the trees and stuff like that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, that is a concern that we did hear when we were in the Nahendeh, and the Member and I actually had an exchange on the hunting off the side of the road. Again, I said you cannot legislate common sense, and I stand by that.
The other one we heard when we were in the Nahendeh is actually what the Member has mentioned, hunting with lights. We are going to go back and have a look at that, because I take the leadership's point when they were saying that we have some people out there hunting with lights. They are not making clean shots. They are making a mess, and a lot of times, they are losing the animal, and that is disrespectful, in my opinion.
We are going to go back. We are going to have a look at it. If there is an opportunity to maybe make that not allowable, then it is something we will have to explore. I agree with the leadership in the Nahendeh that that is a sloppy way to hunt. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, and I appreciate the Minister and his department looking at that.
Maybe the deputy minister or the Minister can correct me, but presently, in some of the other provinces or jurisdictions, they actually have a rule or a law against that. Is that actually out there? Thank you. I will leave you with that one there. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister McLeod.
Yes, and that's what I said. We will go back and do some research on this. Whether it is allowed in some of the provinces or not does not really matter to us, because we have to make one that is actually something that we made up here and we implement. If it is a concern that we hear from up here, then it is time that we acted on it regardless of what other jurisdictions are doing. We've just got to worry about what we're doing. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is just a little bit of a comment. I appreciate the Minister following through on that.
I actually have to give credit to the Minister and his department and their survey. I had a number of local Aboriginal people, or local hunters, I guess you would call them, who have been employed by the department, and they have said nothing but positive things. They appreciate the department actually utilizing traditional knowledge in the areas. I have to give credit where credit is due, and I would like to thank the Minister and his department for that. That will be it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister McLeod, any comments?
No. I appreciate the Member's comments. We appreciate the comments from his community. Again, that's one of the advantages of using traditional knowledge, because who knows the land better than they do, right? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Committee, any further comments to the page under wildlife? If not, I will read the page. Wildlife, operations expenditure summary, $14,389,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Next, we have information items from page 93 to page 102. Any questions? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. It's on page 96, the Inuvialuit Water Board. I think I know the answer, but why is the Government of the Northwest Territories paying the operating expenses for this board and not the other land and water boards? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Ms. Craig.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This board operates a little differently because it was established under the Waters Act, and we are required through that act to provide the funding to the Inuvialuit Water Board. As well, the employees are to be employees of the public service. This was carried over from devolution from Indian and Northern Affairs, where they were within corporate management, and that is where they remain within ENR. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Craig. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, that is what I thought I was going to hear.
We received funding under the devolution agreement, then, from the federal government to actually help us pay for this. This was part of the devolution agreement, so we are using the funds that we got to help pay for the board. Is that correct? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, that's correct.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. The employees, are they employees of the Water Board or of ENR? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister McLeod.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. As Ms. Craig pointed out, they are employees of the public service, so ENR. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I can see where this could lead to some potential difficulties. If our government comes before the Inuvialuit Water Board seeking a water licence at some point, it puts those staff in a really difficult situation. Has there been any discussion with the Water Board in terms of transferring the staff to the administration of the board itself as is the case for the other land and water boards? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Ms. Craig.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The employees are within corporate management to remove that perceived or real conflict of interest within the water resources divisions or the water resource officers in the regions. That keeps them separate from the operational side.
They report to corporate management for all administration, human resources, and financial matters. They report to the chair of the Water Board for the business of the board. The department does not get involved in the business of the board. As for transferring them to their own entities, such as other boards, as the Member knows, we are currently looking at the Waters Act through our legislative initiatives. It is one topic that was discussed. At this point in time, due to economies of scale, really, the Inuvialuit Water Board is not interested in creating their own entity where they would have to get their own payroll system; they'd have to have their own overhead, and they're currently in GNWT leased space. If they had an increased cost, which we estimate they would, they would simply come back to the GNWT for additional resources. As the Member said, we received money through devolution for the funding of the board, but if there are increased costs, those would be costs to the GNWT. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Craig. Mr. O'Reilly.
I think I understand some of that. I'm not sure I necessarily agree with it all, but is there an MOU or some formal agreement between GNWT and the Water Board over reporting of the staff and who is responsible for what? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
