Thank you, Madam Chair. I think travel feels like wishful thinking to me right now, in general. If we are looking at what occurred in 2020-2021, Madam Chair, we did take a fair bit of the travel budget that was there and reallocated it towards tourism, and tourism and parks, specifically. That was from the travel budgets for the department as a whole that were being looked at to help to fund tourism. Madam Chair, I hope I answered Member's question in full. I am worried that I didn't, but I'm sure he knows where to find me.
Thank you. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Chair. First, I just want to comment that the Minister's description of what this section has done was excellent, and I couldn't have said it better myself. I just wanted to start off by saying that. I think, perhaps, the Minister actually just has a semantics problem, and if she takes the word "petroleum" out of the title of this section, she should no longer have the problems. I am actually really excited to see the funding in this area because this is science. This is the scientists. As well, I've had the opportunity to spend time in the Inuvik office and see what they do and how much they contribute back into the community, including running the daycare centre in Inuvik; I think he's the board member. I just want to say I think that, perhaps, just looking at renaming might be the way to go.
When I look at this, I would actually like to know if there is going to be, at any point, an increase in funding for the geologic survey. I'm worried that, as we lock down the borders, et cetera, we're losing an opportunity for us to continue on with our research, with our scientific side, with keeping up at the forefront or forerunner of the permafrost sciences, et cetera. A lot of our work or our research depends on universities external to the Northwest Territories, including external to Canada, as I mentioned in my statement, so maybe the Minister could speak to the fact that we do see -- oh, God, I have to do math here -- a $1.7 million drop there from the actuals of 2019. Maybe if the Minister could comment on that, that would be great. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I think the change in actuals and the decrease there in the actuals was reflective of the fact that there was a sunset on the Slave Geologic Province exploration funding, but more generally speaking, there is a lot of leveraging that does go on with universities and a lot of contribution agreements that go through the Northwest Territories Geological Survey so that they can, indeed, leverage opportunities with universities. I am certainly happy to take away the idea of doing more. I also agree that this is an area that has, I think, tremendous growth potential in the Northwest Territories, given the unique nature of what we have here in the North in terms of geology, geoscience, geophysics. There is not an increase in this year's budget. Again, recognizing the comments, and I appreciate those. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. Again, I would like to make a comment around, during my time as a Minister, I was actually very involved in many conversations around oil and gas and petroleum, LNG, et cetera, in the Beaufort-Delta, not only with businesses but also with Indigenous governments and local governments. I do think there is a lot of interest up in the Beaufort-Delta. I would be supportive of, actually, an increase to funding in the research area. There is a lot of interest in the shipping route from the Beaufort-Delta into Asia. It would be shorter than other sources of oil and LNG and such around the world. I'm probably not getting my science right at the moment because I am extremely tired. I just did want to say that I believe there is a lot of interest in oil and gas, and I do fully support that.
My next question is around the Chamber of Mines. While the Chamber of Mines does not have the core funding and they have been a strong advocate for the Northwest Territories, I am concerned, as well, there that their main source of revenue has always been the geoscience forum. While everybody may want to say that going virtual is great, a lot of times now, people are having to offer their virtual conferences or symposiums for free online, like NAPEG is doing next week, if you're interested. I think that the Chamber of Mines is going to continue to see hard times over the next while as we continue to stay locked down. Can the Minister speak to maybe how she is going to address some of that concern? Again, I'm really worried that the loss of exploration, the loss of our mineral sector at this point, will lead to a massive economic slump down the line, as mining is responsible for 40 percent of our GDP. We need to remember that, and we don't build mines overnight. We need at least 10 years out, and we need 10 metal mines to make up one diamond mine. While I am sitting here preaching and doing the department's work a little bit, I feel strongly and am making a statement now that I do not agree that there is no oil and gas interest in the Northwest Territories. I believe the path forward for our territory is through green energy minerals. I only support this. If you want more money, come to me, and I'll help you figure out how we get it. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Madam Chair, I don't know that I want to take away from much that was said. I am inclined to let it stand as a comment. The one issue there, Madam Chair, that I am hearing is around support for the Chamber of Mines. They are project-funded, and one of the major projects that they are funded for is, indeed, the Geosciences Forum, which is a headline feature event for the mineral resources sector in the North and had to go online this year, which certainly does not bring in the same sorts of revenue. Let me just direct it to Deputy Minister Strand to speak to what that may have done, if anything at all. To the extent that we can speak for the Chamber of Mines, she might be able to speak to what that did to the project funding that we do put towards that project, please.
Deputy Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have all the results for geoscience, but as the Minister said, it was delivered online. We have worked with the chamber on the virtual roundup event. We are launching the PDAC event next week with them. We have Invest Canada North with CanNor and our bordering two territories, so we have to continue to fill the space for promoting and getting the NWT message out there so will continue with the Chamber of Mines on the various promotional events. This year, hopefully, there will be a delivery of Geoscience Forum and the Max Awards, but we are filling that with different projects and deliverables that we're working on together. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Deputy Minister. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. I think that's all great, and while it's going to be painful for the next little while, while things are only virtual, I actually see this in the long run as opening up the Northwest Territories and access to international access. As my colleague from Kam Lake was saying earlier on, in the long run, we'll actually probably have more people participating in our forums when we can return to a normal sort of open venue. Just one last comment. Again, back to science, I like science; I like facts; and I want to invest more in this area because, just because you say something a lot, that doesn't make it true. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. I'll take that as a comment. Are there any further questions under mineral and petroleum resources? Seeing none, please turn to page 215. Industry, Tourism and Investment, minerals and petroleum resources, operations expenditure summary, 2021-2022 Main Estimates, $16,346,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. We will now turn to tourism and parks, beginning on page 218, with information items up to 221. Any questions? Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I also really like tourism and parks, as well, so I am very supportive of this area, too. I'm looking very forward to the day on which I can also travel again. At times, when I've driven down the highway, like I said, it feels like you just want to keep going, right? No, putting joking aside, I'm looking at the Growth and Recovery by Investing in Tourism Fund. I've been hearing from a lot of constituents, or just people who had connections from before, regarding their concern about the borders not reopening, obviously, this summer like they had anticipated and, therefore, not seeing a tourism season in the upcoming summer. I know the Minister has already spoken, it's been a long day, that there is a lot of conversation with the federal government, but I just would like her to maybe speak a little bit further to whether or not that fund is going to actually maybe be renewed or replaced. How much are we really going to see in relief funding for our operators? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. Tourism certainly is quite dear to my heart, and I continue to hear about the impacts of COVID-19, specifically the border restrictions on this sector. Madam Chair, it was my goal to have something sort of a little more concrete to be able to get back to Members and out to the public during the course of this session. We still have a few weeks left, so my goal is not quite over yet. We are working quite diligently, I would say, right now, to make sure that whatever programs are put in place for the 2021-2022 year continue to do what we did in 2020-2021, which was to really identify areas that need to be supported from the federal programs or that can be complemented by federal programs or where there are gaps to be filled. We are still waiting to know what the final word might be from the federal government. That is a significant source of money, and it makes sense to me to not compete with it but to use it to its best advantage. Again, we are expecting to have some information back fairly soon from them and are working in the meanwhile to be ready to drop our own plans in conjunction with that, based on that estimation. I know that is not a lot of specifics, Madam Chair. I am trying to give as much as I can with where we are at, but I very much want this to be a planned approach and not just sort of bits here and there. That is why I am holding back a little bit on where I can go. I will certainly commit to getting the plan out. I just do not know when that is going to be. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member.
Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. That is good to hear, and I am hoping, like before, we are seeing things that are special to us as the territories versus having to be in the same realm as Quebec and Ontario with their over-the-top tourism sectors versus ours. I just wanted to talk to you quickly about the tourism infrastructure fund. Last year, that was a great idea for keeping some small projects going into small communities, employing local businesses, building I think it was kitchen shelters, picnic tables, and such. I note that there is no increase to that over the actuals from either of the last two years, so I am just curious to know: would the department consider actually investing more there, given that again we are not going to see the opening of the borders this summer? To me, again, this seems like a great way we can keep small northern businesses working, keep people employed outside of the centres, and I would be supportive to seeing more money being put in and maybe looking at, if an area or a park does not have a kitchen shelter in a community, looking at that. As my colleague has brought up, what is Whati going to get in preparation for their road, this being the last year of the ice road? Yes. Maybe the Minister could comment a little bit around that. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Right now, obviously, the tourism infrastructure fund still sits at $200,000. It certainly has been oversubscribed, I think, in this last year, and efforts have been undertaken to, as I said earlier, move travel money and reallocating that to the areas that are in need, such as this one and such as some of the tourism products that have rolled out, whether GRIT or otherwise. The short answer is yes, but the longer answer is that it's coming in one project at a time right now. Right now, we are still closing out the end of this fiscal year and trying to utilize all of the different programs and funds that were designed and were set up for this fiscal year and then determine where we can go in the next year. The short answer is yes. It has been a good program. It has had good uptake, and ultimately, the goal and the vision are to position communities and tourism operators when there is a full reopening or partial reopening. That certainly does fit within that vision. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I would totally support, when this comes back to us, that that money is actually moved over into this area, out of the travel budget, ahead of us all voting on it, but I will leave that as more of a comment. We can't get out of this area without talking about outhouses, so I am going to ask the Minister about the outhouses up in the Beaufort-Delta, which I heard a lot about being shot up and not in such great condition. I know that there has been conversation around the replacement of these. I do want to urge the Minister to actually start looking into the revolutions in outhouse technology in the last while and the fact that maybe we could be subcontracting these outhouses to self-contained units that could be hosed down, et cetera, to a company. Maybe that is a business development opportunity, to create a contract. I feel that, if we have a contract in place where those, I am forgetting now, but I believe it's contracted out to the parks, but I am not 100 percent sure, and I should know that. Something along that line, where it's a heated outhouse, that type of thing. However, if not, if you are not going to replace those Beaufort-Delta outhouses, will you be providing operations and maintenance funding for them in the upcoming year? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Madam Chair, please do not shoot at the outhouses. Madam Chair, I am actually heading to Inuvik in a couple of weeks from now, and in keeping with earlier themes this session, with respect to outhouses, there is an ADM meeting happening tomorrow morning between ITI and Infrastructure to figure out the previously promised plan around outhouse maintenance in the Northwest Territories on, obviously, highways, roadways, pullouts, parks, so that includes parks. I will kind of add this one to the list that, if the outhouse facilities in the parks in the Beaufort-Delta are not up to par, obviously, we will have to figure out a solution, maybe alongside the other solutions for outhouses that we are now actively pursuing. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Great Slave.
May I suggest the formation of an outhouse committee, and then you could have an open-to-the-public naming contest for that committee. No further questions, Madam Chair.
Are there any further questions under Industry, Tourism and Investment. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am ready now. Madam Chair, I see that, understandably so, there is a drop of about $2 million from the tourism and parks budget. I am wondering if, within that line item, ITI is still able to or they have already worked on kind of a robust domestic and international marketing plan for as soon as the borders do open so that we are ready to go and say to people, "Come back." Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the drop of $2 million that you can see between the revised 2020 estimates and the mains for 2021-2022 relate really to the fact that there was increased funding coming through CanNor to support the tourism industry in COVID. If you kind of look at the main estimates to main estimates, there actually is not very much variance there. Sorry, Madam Chair. I am going to have to get the second half of her question. It's gone. I apologize.
Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I want to hear all about the fabulous commercials and promotional material that is all ready to go out across Canada and internationally so that we can attract people back right away with fabulous programs and really selling our NWT tourism operators, from Fort Smith right up to the Arctic Ocean. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Madam Chair, I am embarrassed to admit that I forgot what the question was because I love to talk about this. I had the pleasure of receiving a detailed, lengthy presentation, including all sorts of graphics, 3D things jumping out, all from Northwest Territories Tourism, who are our organization, marketing organization, here in the Northwest Territories. They have always traditionally done the bulk of the programming for tourism, and it is quite fantastic. I believe there is an outstanding offer for a similar briefing to committee to have all the same experiences of seeing 3D animals pop out that you can pet. I don't mean to make light of it. It really was quite stunning. There is a line of Northwest Territories stories that I think people were actually crying in the room when we were watching it, so it is phenomenal. I think they have, in fact, won international awards for it. They are still doing that. The programming is still happening. It's still out there. Obviously, we have directed some of the funding that would normally have gone to really pushing that back into the industry right now so that folks can stay alive so that they are ready when the time comes, when tourism restarts internationally as well as nationally. However, I really can't say enough, Madam Chair, about the phenomenal nature of the programs that they have and the marketing products that they have. It's just a question of kind of keeping the money where it can support those tourism operators now but then rolling that product out and catching what I hope is going to be a real wave of tourism coming back to the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I am happy to hear that. I am wondering: this past week, the Minister and I spoke in regard to the camping season this year, and I am wondering if there was any movement or further conversation with the department. I believe that was only two days ago, so I understand if the Minister does not have an answer to this but just in regard to a road-trip program for people doing staycations this year.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. No. Madam Chair, just confirming. I did certainly confirm back with the department after the discussion here in the House that there is continued interest to have some sort of a coupon once again. Hearing it on the floor of the House is an important tool that raises its profile in the department, so we are well aware, and we want to have that ready to go. As I said, again, the dates for bookings do open in May, so a bit of time, but we want the information out. I am conscious of that. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I understand if this information isn't available, but just in regard to, if the plan is to do extended stays for people, if there will be opening of showers this year? These may be CPHO questions, but I figured I would ask them now. I can come back later if need be.
Thank you.
Madam Chair, the department worked very much in conjunction, in collaboration, with the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer last spring and through the season to ensure that the parks reopened safely. In some ways, that foundation is already there and the relationships are already there, and the relationships are already built. I am quite confident that everything that can be done to reopen as safely and as fulsomely as possible is and will be done. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I just want to switch now to page 220. On there, we have the Yellowknife Visitors Centre, which is kind of a status quo budget item, but we do have some changes to that still, which are the site of the Yellowknife Visitors Centre, the traditional site, which is still sitting there. I assume that this budget item is to support the alternate location for the Yellowknife Visitors Centre. I am wondering if there is a plan to have a budget item for the legacy site of the Yellowknife Visitors Centre, and if so, when we can anticipate that and what the plan is for that site. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Madam Chair, I know there is quite a lot of ongoing work with the city. Let me see if I can get the latest on where that is at from Deputy Minister Strand, please.
Deputy Minister Strand.
