Thanks, Mr. Chair. So I'm looking at the information item on the Inuvialuit water board on page 98, and the Main Estimates amount for the Inuvialuit board shows zero. I don't think that that's the case but I guess I'm seeing what I thought were typos before in Main Estimates. Can the Minister tell us what's going on here? Thanks.
Mahsi, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
For that detail, I'll turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's just the way that the finance template is set up. We approve it after the Main Estimates. After the budget has been approved, they load their budget in. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks. I guess when I look at this, I guess a bunch of dashes were loaded in. Are we actually is there any money for the Inuvialuit water board, then, this coming year, or not? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Yes, there is. Thank you.
Mahsi. Mr. O'Reilly.
Okay, can I ask how much? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
For that detail, I'll turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. $939,000.
Mahsi. Mr. O'Reilly.
Okay, thanks. I'm kind of curious; I don't know why we can't fix the Main Estimates. But over to the environment fund. It's on page 95.
I know that there's an accumulated surplus over time but the last three years or next year and then the previous two years, we're running a deficit there on an annual basis. So I'm just wondering what is the objective that this fund is kind of being managed to? Are we trying to draw it down to get it back down to zero at some point, or what is happening? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
For that detail, I'll turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, we're not trying to get it down to zero. What we are reflecting here is the work on the new programs that were decided. So used oil tires and expanded electronics, some of you may have noticed that the suite of electronics at recycling depots is much larger than it was before. So this is to reflect that work. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Okay, well, now that we're talking about the depots, Yellowknife only has one depot. It's out on Old Airport Road. It's not at a terribly convenient location. And I think it would be fair to say that I've personally noticed some degradation in the quality of service there, and that's not probably anything to do with the operator, but there seems to be some problems getting staff or, yeah, people in and out during COVID. It's been, I'm sure, a whole set a challenges. I had understood that there was some work being done to look at a second location in Yellowknife. Can the Minister provide an update as to where we're at with that? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you. The Member is right. We have been looking into it, a satellite. But for detail, I'll turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're still looking into that, and the next step is to put out an RFP to talk about what kind of container could work because the idea is that it would be an unmanned depot where you could bring your bags and put them in, and then they would be moved over to the other depot. There are plans at the existing depot a lot of this is because of COVID restrictions where, you know, and so what they're looking at is in the depot retooling how you get in and out of it so that you can maximize and have more people able to access that service. So there's work being done on both fronts. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. Mr. O'Reilly.
Okay, thanks for that. Yeah, I can tell the Minister that I visited Greenland about maybe six, eight years ago, and in Greenland in the capital Nuuk, they had machines that you could just put an empty bottle into and cash came out at the bottom. So if they can do it in Greenland, I don't know why we can't do it here. Like, was and that was, like, a number of years ago. So I'm is that the kind of remote technology or something we're talking about here? Like, this isn't rocket science. It's done all over Europe. But is that the kind of thing we're talking about? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you. For that detail, I'll just turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're actually looking at a model where there would not be cash on site, that it we would drop it off. You would have a card, and then there would be vendors locally that could pay out the card or it would go directly into your account once it has been counted and processed at the other depot.
We've looked at options across the board to see what could work in our northern climate outside. We are now at a stage where we're looking at an RFP for how it could actually be constructed. So there is movement on this. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks for that. So when is the RFP going to be issued and when would it close and when can we expect another depot or drop off place or whatever? A little bit of a schedule. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
We're hoping to have it done in the next four months. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks. No further questions. But I do want to thank them for getting on this. It's been a longstanding issue for Yellowknifers. Thank you.
Mahsi. Ms. Nokleby.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I just have some questions about the fair marketing revolving fund. I note that there's a 1,500 a year sorry, 1.5 million a year authorized limit. Is that a sorry, yeah, is that a cap that's based solely on, like, supply? Or could we actually look to increase this, or would we then be looking at a draw down of animals and such that it's not sustainable? Thank you.
Mahsi, Ms. Nokleby. Minister.
Thank you. For that detail, I'll go to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We could increase it, but do so we'd have to amend the act. So what we've been doing is looking at it very closely. There's been some variability because of COVID, in particular, in the last while. We're getting less furs coming in, and there was a stockpile of them because there were the sales weren't happening and things weren't selling as much. But we're hopeful that that will turn around as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. Ms. Nokleby.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So would this be an area or an item, then, that we would look to maybe want to remove from the act and put into regulations so that in the future it could be changed more easily without having to take a legislative change? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi, Ms. Nokleby. Minister.
For that detail, I'll turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Deputy minister.
