Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am told that the reason for this is that this is a person who is dedicated to this specific area of work, and, for that reason, that is why we need this position. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. The Minister is starting to make my case for why I think ISSS is a bad move in the first place. Here's a department that is creating a new position so that they can get timely access to the kind of services that ISSS is supposed to be delivering. That sort of goes counter to the whole reason why this thing was being set up in the first place. I don't agree with it, and I think the people who were being moved out of Lands into the Department of Finance should stay with Lands. This just, I guess, confirms my belief that this is a bad thing to do, this ISSS, when we have a department here that is creating a new position because they want timely access to the kind of services that those guys are supposed to be providing. I don't know if the Minister has any remarks he would like to make in response to that, but I would be curious to hear what he would have to say. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you for the comments. This position is very specific to Lands, and we needed this person so that they could be easily accessible, if I could put it that way. I do understand the Member's concern about the overall direction of the centralization, but this is a position that we felt we very specifically needed for our own needs. I don't think I want to comment about the overall structure and the creation of the ISS department, or whatever it's called. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I don't have anything further, but I think the Minister has made my case for me, so I appreciate his efforts. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Next, we have Mr. McNeely.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just ask the question if there are any internal assessments or reviews done to bring in OROGO to this department? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
I know that this question has come up before. It was thought appropriate a few years ago, I forget the exact date, maybe 2016, somewhere around there, that OROGO should be parked in justice. I don't think we have re-evaluated that placement, and I don't think we are intending to do that in the near future. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 314, we see an increase of five positions. Could the Minister explain what the increase of those five positions is? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Yes, Mr. Chair, if I could just go through them, there is a geomatics analyst, land administration; geotechnical advisor, land administration; land administrator of land administration; land specialist, land administration; land specialist, regional land administration; and the resource management officer II in resource management. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
I don't think I was on your list.
Just a force of habit, I guess. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I counted seven, but maybe I didn't calculate that correctly. I just saw it from there, on page 314, it just showed five increases, so are those the equity leases positions? Are those positions dealing with the equity leases? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Ms. Hilderman.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have two additional positions for the equity lease initiative. They were approved in the supplemental, so then they appear in the first mains after the supplemental in 2018-2019. We have the new geomatics analyst position and the new geotechnical advisor, and then, in support of the initiative to address unauthorized occupancy and potential rights-based occupancy, we have one new resource management officer II, so a net increase of five. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Seeing nothing further, I will call this activity. Lands, operations, operations expenditure summary, $11,654,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Moving on to the final activity, planning and coordination, beginning on page 315. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I would like to start with questions about the allocation in here for land use planning in the Wekweeti management area. There is $647,000 in the Department of Lands and another $79,000 in Department of Infrastructure. Can the Minister tell us what this money is actually for? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Hagen.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The monies are primarily to set up the foundation for a land use plan in the public land areas of the Wekweeti region, and there is a land use plan there that the Tlicho government have done under private lands, which is different from the other regions that have a land use plan. They did a land use plan for the whole region. The responsibility for paying for the plan is the federal government's, as the legislation comes out of the MVRMA, which is federal legislation. This money we have is to set up an office in Behchoko and have an executive director in Yellowknife. We are setting the stage, working with a partner, with the Tlicho government, and in anticipation of the federal government funding the land use plan, which they have done in every single region that has a plan, including the Deh Cho, who have been at it for about 15 years, and the feds have funded that, primarily. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, that is great. Why are we spending the money to do land use planning? Why is this not the federal government? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Hagen.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Unfortunately, if we waited for the federal government, we would never have a land use plan, so, by going forward the way we are going, get their attention, we have the Tlicho government, who obviously have a constitution of protected land claim agreement and it speaks to having a land use plan in the region. So we are not going to go forward any further than we have to in spending of dollars, but we are having a foundation here, and, in partnership with the Tlicho, we are going to have a position in Behchoko. From this we are hoping and pushing for the feds to come forth with the dollars to complete the land use plan. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Is there any prospect that this money can be recovered from the federal government? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Hagen.
I'm sorry. I didn't catch his question there. Sorry about that.
Is there any prospect that this money could be recovered from the federal government?
Sorry, I missed that.
I will allow Mr. O'Reilly to re-ask his question. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Is there any way we can get this money back from the federal government? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Hagen.
Mr. Chair, my apologies. We could sure try. I don't see it happening. We do have some obligations in the Department of Lands to go forward. We are a partner. There are three partners in this plan. We do have to put some, for lack of a better word, I guess, some "skin in the game" here to get it kick-started, and that is what we are doing. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I don't want the witnesses to get the impression that I don't believe in land use planning. That is actually what brought me to the Northwest Territories in 1985. I became the land use planning coordinator for the Dene nation and actually spent some time working with Violet Camsell-Blondin and a whole bunch of other people, Michael Nadli, and so on, so this is what actually got me up here, and I want this to be done. I just am trying to understand why we are getting out in it ahead of the federal government. It is their responsibility to fund this. I understand there is a need for land use planning, but can someone just explain why there is so much urgency that we are going to spend $1.5 million on land use planning in this area before you can even get the feds to the table to agree to it? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
I think, Mr. Chair, that we obviously, along with the Member, regard the land use planning as critical and therefore are willing to commit resources to the establishment of a planning office and senior representative. As we have mentioned, the planning process, I think part of it, and I will let Mr. Hagen expand on my answer, is that we feel that it is necessary for someone to go ahead and that that is why we have decided to step up to the plate, but perhaps Mr. Hagen can expand on that answer. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Hagen.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Like I said five minutes ago, if we waited for the federal government, I think it would be a lot of years before they came to the table. We found this through other land use plans. If we start the process, which we are doing, it is a mandate item in the 18th Assembly to start land use planning, and, if we start it off, then, of course, we set the goals and we have the plan, and, hopefully at the end of the day -- they don't necessarily have to participate. We just need $5 million to complete the Tlicho land use plans. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Is there no provision within the Tlicho agreement for taking an issue to arbitration to force the federal government to pay for this? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
