Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document: "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 106-19(2), Healthcare Services in Deh Cho Communities." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Tabling of documents. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to table a letter from the NWT Tourism to the Premier's Office supporting Frontier Lodge and the LKDFN. Marsi cho.
I now call Committee of the Whole to order. Mr. Norn, what is the wish of committee?
Marsi cho, Madam Chair. Committee would like to consider Tabled Document 30-19(2), Main Estimates 2020-2021, Department of ITI.
Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will take a short recess and will resume with the first item.
---SHORT RECESS
I call committee back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 30-19(2), Main Estimates 2020, and we are doing the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Does the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment have any opening remarks?
Thank you, Madam Chair, I do.
I am here today to present the 2020-2021 Main Estimates for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Overall, the department's estimates propose a decrease of $317,000 or 0.5 percent over the 2019-2020 Main Estimates. These estimates support our fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending while matching the modest expected revenue growth over the coming year.
Highlights of these proposed estimates include:
forced growth of $2.2 million, which includes $1.7 million in funding for UNW collective bargaining increases; $250,000 in support of the management of socio-economic agreements, to ensure maximization of benefits to the NWT and Indigenous residents and businesses; and $176,000 for a seasonal position and a contribution increase to Tuktoyaktuk to assist in the growing demand of tourism from the opening of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway;
other adjustments include $240,000 to support the implementation of the Northwest Territories petroleum resources strategy to attract oil and gas development and a position to support the implementation of the strategy for revitalizing the Great Slave Lake commercial fishery; and last,
we see a sunset of about $1.5 million which primarily consists of an initiative to complete a high-resolution airborne geophysical survey and surficial mapping program in the Slave Geological Province.
To support our ambition of building a strong, diverse economy across the Northwest Territories, ITI's proposed budget allocates approximately 60 percent or $34.3 million of spending to economic development and business services, tourism, and parks. This will be dedicated to programs designed to develop small businesses in all communities and across a variety of sectors. This government takes diversification seriously, and we will continue to be allies to entrepreneurs and the business community.
At the same time, this government recognizes the importance of the resource sectors to our continued prosperity. To that end, these estimates allocate nearly $16.1 million to deliver programs and services to benefit mining, mineral exploration, and the oil and gas sector, as well as Indigenous governments participation in the sector.
These estimates offer the resources necessary to support Industry, Tourism and Investment program delivery, and begin implementing our government's mandate in support of the priorities of the 19th Legislative Assembly.
That concludes my opening remarks. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Do you wish to bring witnesses into the House?
Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Will the Minister please introduce her witnesses?
Thank you, Madam Chair. On our left, looking at the back of the room, we have Assistant Deputy Minister Tracy St-Denis, ADM of economic development; and on our right, we have Ms. Pamela Strand, my deputy minister for ITI. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Committee, we have agreed to forgo the general comments and move into detail. I will proceed to the detail contained in the tabled document. We will defer the departmental summary and review the estimates by activity summary, beginning with corporate management, starting on page 198, with information items up to 200. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Do we have questions from the Members on corporate management? Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I would like to start on the general, and if the Minister could provide an update in regards to the new Mineral Resources Act, and when we can expect that to come into force and a timeline given COVID, whether any of the timelines in the mandate have changed in regards to the regulations under that? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I think, on this one, I will ask Ms. Strand to answer. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Strand.
Thank you, Madam Chair. With respect to the Mineral Resources Act, yes, certainly, we have been delayed a few months with COVID, but the dates are still achievable to complete that in the 2021-2022 year. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Strand. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Another concern of mine is in regard to online map staking. I think this is a huge step, and I know that we are in the process of developing the software, but I am wondering if it's possible to speed that timeline up or if the Minister could provide an update of when we expect that to be in existence. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I know that it is actually quite a complex system to get going. I have had numerous conversations with some of our surveyors and the legalities behind going to the online staking. It does seem pretty archaic in this day and age that we are forcing people to go out where there are no roads to actually literally pound stakes in the ground. I will maybe pass this over to Ms. Strand to just, perhaps, provide a timeline, if she has one. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Strand.
Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. As the Minister has spoken, there is a significant timeline needed to evolve to that map staking platform. That being said, we recognize the importance of it to industry and, also, real time knowledge of who is on the land where, from an Indigenous government perspective. We know that other jurisdictions have taken up to ten years. That is not what we want in our case. We believe that we have very good knowledge from our fellow provincial and territorial governments.
We do have a MARS project, which is a general administration and registry system. We were successful in securing $4.2 million in financing for that to design the platform for that mineral administration, which includes the map staking. We delayed those funds because of COVID, and the bottom line is that we need to be hiring for that project. We will start with a minimum amount of hiring.
I might have to go out on a limb here, but I think we are going to need two to four years, and I am not exactly sure where we would be. We would be prepared to be coming back once we have a solid game plan in place. There are some significant decisions that we have to make. For example, for existing mineral tenure clients, we have to decide whether there is a forced conversion, that's just one example, or a voluntary conversion. Then, when we apply a grid over the mineral tenure system, how do we put people's claims into that grid block?
There is a lot of consultation that we need to do with industry within the next year. We are hoping that we can start that even with an online platform in the coming months. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Strand. Are there further questions under corporate management? Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I guess I would like to follow up on my colleague's questions from the Member for Yellowknife North on the Mineral Resources Act regulations. In the last Assembly, the standing committee suggested and asked for a plan, how these regulations are going to be developed and rolled out overtime. We have asked for the same. Does such a plan exist? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am not sure if the state of the plan is at a stage where we would be sharing it. However, I do commit to coming back to the Member and providing him with a briefing on where the plan is at. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I guess I have heard from our witnesses that one part of it might take two to four years to implement, and that is not unusual. When Ontario rewrote its mining legislation, it took 10 years to fully implement. I don't think we're going to be that much different, but I do really want to see a full plan. Are there any additional resources in this budget for the development of regulations and the consultation that should take place around it? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe the two-to-four-year timeline was towards the online staking that the Member was asking about, not about the plan. I think I will just ask Ms. Strand to answer this question. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Strand.
Yes, thank you, and the Minister is correct. That was for the online map staking platform. With respect to the regulations, I think COVID has set us back from starting that engagement. Right now, we are looking at a government-wide approach with respect to how we are going to engage with our stakeholders so that we include Indigenous governments, industry, any concerned citizens or groups. We want that to be a united approach by GNWT, because we have a number of legislation priorities across all departments. That really has to be decided before we will really have a fulsome plan in place. As the Minister said, we can come back probably, hopefully, if we get through COVID here and back to regular business, we will be starting that planning right away. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Strand. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Look, I fully understood that the two to four years was for map staking. I still want to see the plan and want to know what kind of resources the department needs to carry this out. My simple question was, and I will repeat it again: are there any additional resources in this budget for the development of regulations for the Mineral Resources Act and the consultation that should take place? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. At this time, there are no additional resources in the budget. We just have the staff time and the MARS. I forget its acronym at this moment, but the MARS, and we can provide what the acronym is in a second here. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I guess I am trying to figure out, then, if there is no money in this budget, how the work is going to get done. We had a small glimpse of how much work is going to be required for those of us who live through the development of the bill itself and the review of it. How is this work going to get done if there are no additional resources in this budget? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We have an entire department that deals with the mineral resources industry and sector. They would be doing this as part of their work. We will have some contract funds coming towards this at a later date, and we will update at that time. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
