Agreed.
Agreed. Next, we have economic diversification and business support, from page 209 to 213. Economic diversification and business support, operations expenditure summary, $17,251,000. Any questions, committee? Mr. Nakimayak.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 211, the Northern Food Development Program, can I just have a little bit of information for that for this year, please? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Nakimayak. Ms. St-Denis.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Northern Food Development Program is a program provided by our regional offices, and it supports different program areas, such as fishing. So communities like Tsiigehtchic, where we have commercial fishers or new entrants wanting to enter into that sector, that would be the programming area that their regions would utilize.
Thank you, Ms. St-Denis. Mr. Nakimayak.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. I don't know if this is the section. I know Tuktoyaktuk, during the last year's business plans, during sitting last year, there was $100,000 allocated for the community of Tuktoyaktuk to possibly look at upgrading the current visitor centre that they have there now, which is a shack. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Nakimayak. Minister Schumann.
Mr. Chair, can we get the Member to repeat the question? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Nakimayak.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Last year, during the last November sitting, there was $100,000 from ITI to help Tuktoyaktuk with the current visitor centre that they have there now. I believe the department had allocated $100,000 to possibly look at upgrading the visitor centre that they currently have in Tuktoyaktuk right now. I don't know if that helps, but I could dig into e-mails quickly here and find out exactly what it is.
Thank you, Mr. Nakimayak. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. From what I know of what is going on with the tourism information centre in Tuktoyaktuk is we are going to help do a feasibility study on the prospect of something happening there, but I think the Member might be referring to something that potentially could be in the capital budget going forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Nakimayak.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe so. I am sorry for my confusion. I don't think I have anything else right now, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Nakimayak. Any further questions, committee? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Given my colleague's last line of questioning, is this where planning studies would fall for the visitor centre, or would it be found in tourism and parks as we work our way through the ITI budget? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Ms. St-Denis.
Hi there. Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. When it comes to planning studies, we do have a variety of applicants that do apply under the SEED Program. As it relates to tourism, this would also include SEED as well.
Thank you, Ms. St-Denis. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks. Well, I will go ahead and try it here, and I might get told I have to ask it later, but is there any funding in the 2019-2020 budget for a territorial or Yellowknife visitor centre? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Ms. St-Denis.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Later in the budget, there actually is a line item that does speak to Yellowknife visitor services, so we would be able to address questions there. I am not sure if that answers the Member's question at this point.
Thank you, Ms. St-Denis. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I will see if I can wait until we get to the end, then. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Next on our list, we have Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I have a question on the commercial fishers. It indicates on there that it is to offset the high cost of freight or production costs. Is that for the whole of Great Slave Lake, or is that the whole territory? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Ms. St-Denis.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That program actually is for those fishers for freight subsidies where fish is actually going to the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation.
Thank you, Ms. St-Denis. Mr. Beaulieu.
Are the fishers from Yellowknife included in that, or just people from the south of the lake? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Ms. St-Denis.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That program would be for any fisher who was actually selling fish through the fish plant to the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. We do, however, as mentioned earlier, have the Northern Food Development Program, which would help fishers across the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. St-Denis. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have no further questions.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Next, we have Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am just taking a look at these lines, especially around the SEED program, Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development, and Community Futures. Let's just talk about SEED. This money has only seen very small marginal increases over the years. I would like to know what the subscription rates for the SEED fund are. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. For the number of years that we have tracked it from 2010 to now, it has either been almost 100 percent subscribed or else oversubscribed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Testart.
How much is it oversubscribed? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Schumann.
We can supply this chart to the Members, but in 2017-2018, the surplus deficit was $26,888 over. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Testart.
Thank you. Sorry, I wasn't looking for deficit numbers, but that is helpful. If the SEED fund had the available funding, what is the amount of applications that would have been approved under those conditions? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to give the Member an idea, I will run through it really quickly. In 2010-2011, we had 418. In the next calendar years, 448, 437, 454, 480, 410, 441, 445, are the number of applicants, but the number of people approved changes year to year depending on the type of applications that we receive. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Testart.
Thank you. This funding is crucial capital for entrepreneurs and for businesses that are looking to develop, to grow, and to pursue expansion, and there is just not a lot of private equity out there being floated to northern businesses. I see this fund as a key way that the government can help diversify the economy directly, and yet, we do not see substantial increases to this pot of money.
I recall a couple of years ago when similar arguments were being made to increase the Mineral Incentive Program, which was done, and currently that fund pays out and is contributing a lot to our economy. Why aren't we taking the same approach with this vital fund? The answer, often, when we are raising questions on behalf of our constituents who are looking to access more government support, when we are looking at the general state of the economy, the answer is often, "Go to the SEED fund," and the SEED fund too frequently runs out.
Why are we not putting more resources into this fund, which is a very useful way to contribute to the economy, to diversify the economy, and to get entrepreneurs the capital that isn't as freely flowing to them from private capital institutions? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Schumann.
