Debates of May 29, 2018 (day 31)

Thank you. Minister McLeod.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, yes, we will provide some information to committee. The $5 million my understanding is total investment because partially offset by revenues from the Government of Canada, so we can assume that they are giving us 75 per cent, and we are investing 25 per cent. We will reconcile all these numbers as to what is being used for works going, and we'll share that information with committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I thank the Minister for that commitment. I think this is a good thing, and I do support the $1,000,000 that is going into the housing retrofits, and that is the kind of investment in our low carbon economy that I can support. There is supposed to be increased funding for the Arctic Energy Alliance. I have been pleading with Cabinet for the last three years to increase the funding for the Arctic Energy Alliance, so finally, we're going to get some more money in there.

I would like to know from the Minister whether any of that funding is going to be dedicated to something called the Alternative Energy Technology Program, the AETP. The reason why I ask this is because Arctic Energy Alliance is already telling people now, two months into the fiscal year, that that program is already oversubscribed. I have been asking the Minister to increase that funding for the last three years. Is any of this money going to be dedicated toward that particular program? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my understanding is there will be an additional investment in this year of $250,000. Some of that money is going to the Energy Efficiency Technology Program. Then, looking at the numbers in future years, they are going to be getting another investment next year, right up to 2021-2022; $300,000 next year; 350,000 the year after; and 350,000 the year after that. I take the Member's point. We hear more and more people switching over. If the money is lapsed in the first two months, then it is something that we will have to look at and try to address. There is going to be more investment into that particular area. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate that information from the Minister, and look forward to the reconciliation. One area that I am a bit concerned about is this active forestry carbon sequestration. What is that funding actually going to be used for? I think I saw in the briefing materials that some of it is going to be used to replant areas where there may have been fires, but it sounds like some of it is going to be used to replant areas that were supposed to be replanted after forests were harvested. We should be preventing that sort of thing from happening. If areas are harvested, whoever harvested should be responsible for reforestation. We shouldn't be using public funds for that. What is this money for the active forestry carbon sequestration going to be used for? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the funding will support reforestation, as the Member said, as well as efforts intended to maximize forest growth over the five years of the funding. One hundred and twenty hectares will be selected for forest regeneration, and 60 hectares will be selected for thinning. The funding is going to be administered by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and will be set out in the profile below. The total program cost is about $1.333 million over the next four years. Thank you. Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that information from the Minister. Is any of this money being used to replant areas that were already planted once after forests were harvested? If so, doesn't that point to the need to improve our reforestation regulation? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we are not exactly sure where the location is yet. I can commit to providing more information to the Members as it becomes available, but we take the Member's point. I will commit to provide him more information. I don't think the exact locations have been chosen yet. Maybe it is something we will have to work on. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Nothing further from Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 11, we see an increase of $344,000 for the Fort Liard Ferry. Could the Minister explain how this increase came about? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we are asking for $344,000 to extend the Liard River Ferry by two hours, 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., during 2018 ferry season to accommodate industry transportation requirement. The net effect on government operations is nil, as these expenditures will be fully offset by contributions from Enbridge. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The company came forward and asked to get these extra two hours? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister McLeod.

Yes, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I would have to give credit where credit is due here. The department is working with industry. I know this is Segment 21 that they are trying to fix and trying to get it done in a timely, cost-effective manner. I would like to thank the department and the government for working with the private industry and the community to expand those two hours. With these two hours, does this mean it is just strictly for the private industry, or is this actually opening for the general public, as well?

Thank you. I will remind all Members to let us know when you are done speaking so our audio team knows when to switch the microphones. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it is open to the public, as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I apologize for forgetting to recognize the Chair after I finished my statement. Is the department actually tracking how many people actually access these extra hours? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the indication I got is, our infrastructure, they do track traffic that uses the ferry. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Will the department or the Minister make a commitment to actually share that information to the community and the Chamber of Commerce after it is all said and done? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister McLeod.

I will have a conversation with the Minister of Infrastructure. A lot of the information that goes on within the government, we will share it with the Member, and then we will make a determination if that information could be shared with the community or not. We will share it with the Member first, and then we will have a discussion. We will go from there. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. This question was asked before. The numbers were a little bit different. Is there a rationale why it is at $344,000 instead of the number that was provided previously to the Chamber of Commerce, which was $266,000? Is there a reason for the difference in cost? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am not sure of the first set of numbers that went to the Chamber of Commerce, but if this is a second set, then I would assume that this is a second set that was done after doing a bit more work on how much it going to cost to operate the ferry. I think they came up with $344,000. I would think that would be the reason for that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the Minister for that clarification. The information is going to get out there, and they are going to be asking the question. Again, I thank the department and the Minister for providing the information on this. No further questions.

Thank you. Anything further from committee? Seeing none, I will call this. Infrastructure, operations expenditures, asset management, not previously authorized, $600,000. Does committee agree?

Agreed.

Infrastructure, operations expenditures, corporate management, not previously authorized, $110,000. Does committee agree?

Agreed.

Infrastructure, operations expenditures, programs and services, not previously authorized, $5,506,000. Does committee agree?

Agreed.

Infrastructure, operations expenditures, regional operations, not previously authorized, $344,000. Does committee agree?

Agreed.

Infrastructure, operations expenditures, total department, not previously authorized, $6,560,000. Does committee agree?

Agreed.