Thank you. Minister.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. As we move forward debating next year's budget, I mean, that will happen, and there will be some initiatives that are brought forward. I believe that the Government of the Northwest Territories, we are so far ahead of the curve on climate change, feeling the effect of climate change. I think some of the work that we've done in that is already incorporated into when we look at the infrastructure that we put in. I suppose, if it is the wish of the Assembly, we can put every little thing into regulation, legislation, and that, just to give the Member comfort, and the public comfort, that we take this particular issue very seriously, and we're incorporating it into a lot of the work that we do. Because, as I've said, in my travels south, speaking with my colleagues from across the country, we felt the effects of climate change long before the southern jurisdictions, so we had to take steps to try and mitigate that. Thank you.
Thank you. Environment and Natural Resources, environmental stewardship and climate change, operations expenditure summary, $9,897,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Please turn to activity four, forest management, beginning on page 80 and continuing on to page 83. Comments or questions from committee? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. In this division of the main estimates, and I presume I get this right, there is a $800,000 reduction with regard to covering a shortfall in O and M savings for Fire Boss planes. Is that still accurate? At least, I'm still looking at this from the business plan from the departmental website. Is that still accurate? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, it's still accurate.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. So as I understand it, the shortfall is actually $1 million, so why is only $800,000 found in this part of the ENR budget? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Dr. Dragon.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. The O and M savings that were initially identified for the 802s that we were buying, initially there was $500,000 identified for contract savings. During the initial evaluation of those planes, the original estimates were based on U.S. dollars. At the time of the estimates, the Canadian dollar was actually 10 cents higher than the U.S. dollar. By the time the planes were bought, the American dollar was then $1.26 to our Canadian dollar. So the $500,000 was not realized as a contract savings as initially thought of in 2016.
In addition, there was thought that, given that they were going to be a new fleet of aircraft, that the O and M would be substantially lower because it's a new fleet of aircraft. Unfortunately, when we saw that we didn't get the $500,000, what we asked committee was to delay the second $500,000 so we could get a year under our belt with the 802s to see how much operations and maintenance were. What we realized is, based on the fleet of eight versus the CL215s, where we had four planes, we actually didn't realize a savings in terms of O and M.
Upon realization of that, what we did was looked at, again, the areas within our forest management division, and we were able to find $800,000 in savings that was manageable from an ENR perspective. On the basis of that, what we looked at, the $800,000 breaks down to $350,000. We are not hiring a long-term fixed-wing aircraft for pre-suppression activities. These are for smoke controls and services to camps, and when we move people. This is really aligned to a risk measure, depending on if we have a lot of fires or don't have a lot of fires.
$250,000 of the $800,000 was reduced training costs for the aviation contract, and there will be little impact, as the contractor now has trained flight crews for two seasons, so we don't have to have that level of training. In addition, we found $200,000 for reduced consultant support for aviation services dealing with aircraft maintenance and inspection scheduling, and, as well, weather forecasting. We've been able to now, as we've had staff work through this process, actually acquire that competency, and we have them now working in the department and using weather-forecasting tools to predict fires. Again, we feel that those series of reductions will be better identified versus the 802 that we did not realize. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, committee. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. That explains the $800,000 in reductions within forest management, but there are cuts to other parts of the ENR budget that relate to the Fire Boss aircraft. Why were the cuts made to the other parts of the ENR budget to fund the shortfall? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Dr. Dragon.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, as we looked at the operational and the functional review of looking at the department and where best to identify money, because the costs weren't realized within the 802s, we then looked at other parts of the department as we were going through our operational and functional review to be able to see if we could find efficiencies. The remaining $200,000 came from the following areas: $100,000 came from wildlife, and this is reduced biodiversity conservation section. This is funding related to the Wildlife Act and worked toward Phase 2 regulations that should require less support in the future. The proposed regulations are expected to be completed in the near future. We don't see that as needing that expense anymore.
We had additional $40,000 under wildlife. That is reducing operational requirements for the wildlife management information system. All past data has been uploaded within that system. Now, efficiencies can be realized with recent operational enhancements. In addition, $35,000 in wildlife, this is a savings in office administration and support. No positions are impacted with this reduction. We saw a savings in equipment, supplies, training, and operational costs associated with that position. The position was removed in the beginning of 2017-2018 and ended in 2018-2019.
Finally, the last of the $200,000 was $25,000 in environmental stewardship and climate change. This is the reduction of a contract service for air-quality monitoring stations in Fort Smith and Norman Wells. The budget allotted to this work with third parties for monitoring the air quality stations is greater than the actual realized costs, so we were able to find $25,000 within that file. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. That is a great explanation, but why did the department not look for the extra $200,000 within forest management? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Dr. Dragon.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, these were decisions prior to me coming to the department. I really thought, in looking and going through each of these respected areas, I felt that the $800,000 was as much as we could take out of forest management division and not lose any of the efficiencies or the work that we do in that area. I felt that by going and looking at other areas, we were able to find that money and be able to come up with that savings. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Look, I appreciate the deputy minister's answers. I am not questioning his ability to manage the department, and so on. I would like to ask the Minister: did he ever consider going to the Financial Management Board and seek the additional funding or to get a waiver or whatever so that the department did not have to make these internal cuts to come up with the amount of the anticipated savings? I would like to know why the Minister didn't take that route. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. When ENR had identified the Fire Boss and not the potential savings that were going to be realized, it came back to the FMB and asked if it would be able to defer that and they would find other sources of reductions. They did, and we approved that. All the other departments within the GNWT had met their obligations. Because we had asked for a waiver on the Fire Boss potential savings, that is the reason we came up with this.
As we go forward now into the next budget, I think with some evidence we have on the actual cost of operating the Fire Boss, I think the numbers that we come forward with will be a lot more accurate. As we come forward with the new initiatives, much as we were talking about with the climate change and all the measures that need to be taken with that, I think you are going to see a budget come forward from ENR in the future that is more accurate and putting a lot more resources towards a lot of the initiatives that are going to be brought forward by the department.
I think, through the exercise that we went through, it gave them an opportunity, as Dr. Dragon spoke before, to kind of refocus and move some money around to places where it is needed and get new priorities. I think you are going to find a budget come forward in the future with a lot of the new initiatives as we spoke about. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the Minister's words, but the facts show that this department is not delivering on the mandate items that it was tasked with doing, only five of 25 completed. I think we are seeing the results of the continuing cuts with the lack of progress on this work. That is all I have, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister, would you like to respond?
I would love to. I respect and understand the Member's position. He has always taken the same position, but I am of the opinion that the department has fulfilled many of the mandate items on top of doing all the work that was tasked before them before our 235 mandate items came forward. I think the department has been adjusting. It has been an adjustment for a lot of the departments because they continue to do the work.
As you see the results of the work that they are doing, a lot of the new initiatives that they are working on are much appreciated by a lot of folks across the Northwest Territories. There is still some work going on with the mandate commitments: fulfilled are eight; in progress, 12; anticipated, 6. I think, in spite of what the Member is saying, the department has been trying to fulfill their mandate items on top of doing all the other work that is required of them within the $88 million appropriation. Thank you.
Thank you. Environment and Natural Resources. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a couple questions in regard to fire suppression there. Last year, the community regularly didn't have a team. They were budgeted for it and, due to complications and whatever reasons, weren't able to get the team going. Is that team budgeted for this year? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, it is.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is good news to hear. Has the department been able to reach out to the community and try to help them get prepared for their training that they need to pass on this? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The budget line item that the Member is referring to is part of this appropriation that we are bringing forward to the Assembly right now. Once it is approved, then we will go out, work with the community, work with all the other communities, like we normally do, as far as the training and that goes. Right now, it is subject to approval of the budget. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that it is part of the budget process. Previously, Nahanni Butte and Jean Marie talked about setting up a small team, getting prepared. Has the department looked at reaching out to them and seeing if they are still interested in doing this? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not sure if we have actually reached out to them. If it is an issue that is concerning the community, then they would have a conversation with our folks there. If they want to have a conversation, we are more than willing to sit down with them. Actually, as to whether we went and called them or not, I am not quite sure. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the Minister saying that the department will reach out or is able to talk to them and that. Can the superintendent regional staff reach out to the communities and see if they are still interested in doing that? I know that, last time I talked to them, they were. Is that something the department is able to do? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We can reach out to them, but at the same time, if they are still interested in following up with some of these initiatives, they can contact us, as well. We will reach out to them. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I can get the community to reach out. I just need to know if the regional superintendent is the person who we should be reaching out to. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The regional superintendent is the point of contact. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Nothing further from Mr. Thompson. I will call this activity. Environment and Natural Resources, forest management, operations expenditure summary, $34,832,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
