That's basically it for me. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My question is on the expenditure side on 238. It seems that the compensation and benefits went up and grants, contributions and transfers went down. Did we, or is it part of this activity going to see additional staff being hired because of that compensation and benefits increase?
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. This isn't additional staff. It's additional compensation and benefits through the UNW collective agreement. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'll go to the Member in the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks to the Minister for that clarification. I'm just wondering if there's any willingness, I would say, into this barging season and I must compliment or acknowledge the support from the Minister for last year's no barging activities to the Sahtu; now this year I see a blank in that category on page 239. Is the Minister open to reviewing this with the possibility that we may not have a barge again this year for entertaining relief? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. And thank you to the Member for the question. I'd like to start off by acknowledging that it has certainly been a very difficult time for the Sahtu with the cancellation of the barge season and the impacts of climate change on Sahtu communities.
The barge cancellation program was a one-time program that we launched in recognition of the very difficult season that the Sahtu endured and certainly we, you know, hoped that water will come back. We know that it's predicted to be another dry year, and so we continue to encourage people to get insurance, especially businesses, to have shipping insurance beforehand and be prepared for low barging. We've encouraged people to try and bring as much stuff up on the winter road as absolutely possible now that we are in the leeway of that, to really work as hard as they can and as much as possible to prepare in advance. And I know that my colleague over at the Department of Infrastructure has equally worked very hard to make sure that fuel both on the part of the GNWT and has encouraged Imperial also to make sure that their fuel supplies and fuel sources are up on the winter road as well. Thank you.
I'm going to go to the Member from the Sahtu.
I'll acknowledge that as a possible door invitation for further negotiations. Nothing further on this activity there. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'd like to just talk about the film industry for a minute. I see the budget's doubled, which is good, and we heard about the multiplier earlier today. But one of the issues with this is it's still a very small rebate program versus other larger jurisdictions. So is this -- I guess, is the intention to this more on the arts side to support northern filmmakers, or is it more on the economy side to grow a film sector, and -- well, let's just start there. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it really certainly does fulfill both. Certainly the drive and putting that much money into it is an economic driver but it also supports local artists, and it's an incredible mentorship opportunity. I had the great joy of going recently out on to one of these film sets and was absolutely tickled to see that there was multiple staff members who are grown up in the territory who had come back to mentor other people within the industry who were working on the film set as well. And so it was really neat to have this cohort of Northerners kind of come full circle and come together to prop up the industry. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And that sounds like a great experience. I was -- had an experience with a US film production in my previous employment in, Mr. Chair, your community of Dettah, and it was really significant to see how much opportunity brought to the community and to see the late Chief Eddie Sangris shake Hilary Swank's hand was really exciting as well. So this can really bring Northerners -- or bring the North to Hollywood or to that larger film industry and bring, of course, film industry here locally.
The issue is this rebate is -- like, no one's going to complain about it. This is good that it's there. It's very, very small. And if you're looking to build an industry around a rebate program, which basically every jurisdiction does. The reason they film in, you know, European countries, small European countries, you know, like, why are productions setting up there, it's because their film -- how their film rebates are structured.
This could be an area where we could attract a lot more -- or more productions to and also support local filmmakers as well if we expanded this program, but it's going to take a significant amount of expansion. Not $1 million or $1.5 million, but tens of millions if we want to take it seriously and really grow our industry here.
Is there any possibility or long-term planning? Obviously, we have fiscal challenges we need to address, but we also have economic challenges we need to address and a lot of jobs in the private sector that are leaving the territory with the closure of the mines and not a lot to replace them. So the good stuff about this is, again, the times nine multiplier for every dollar we put into this but also the sustainable jobs it creates as long as the funding's there. It is very much a "if you fund it, they will come" kind of model.
So as we try to pivot into a future, an increasingly uncertain future, is a more robust film rebate program, that can attract larger productions, support more local productions, and grow a film industry in -- I mean, in the hub communities, part of the department's long-term thinking? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the must.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Well, Mr. Chair, I'm not shy to ask for money; that's for sure, and I'm sure my Cabinet colleagues would confirm that.
In my short time as Minister of ITI, we've managed to take this fund from $100,000 to $500,000 and now this year to $1 million. And so we're seeing a continued significant amount of investment in it, acknowledging that the benefits are huge and not just for the North Slave region but for the whole territory.
Through a CanNor investment, we were able to work with a location scout who travelled the territory and actually created a bank of photographs and video of communities and areas across the territory. By the way, loves Frank Channel Bridge, does not want to see it replaced, but -- had to let him down gently.
But my point, Mr. Chair, is that this really is a great opportunity for the territory, and I just want to thank my Cabinet colleagues for the support in increasing this fund to an entire million dollars. We will continue to, of course, track the success of this program. And I'm glad that the Member brought up the film sets that he's had the opportunity to be on as well. And we continue to see those in the territory. They continue to make the North a destination for the world, and we'll continue to grow that fund as best we can and we'll continue to capitalize on our small fund as best as we can. But a million dollars is a big deal as well. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you for that. I want to move on. But I will point out I have spoken to filmmakers who have left the territory because this funding's just not enough to continue to -- them to pursue their career in the industry. So there is a limit to how effective it is. But if it keeps growing, then, yeah, maybe we can take -- we can develop our own cottage industry like what they've done in -- or they did for a while -- it's different now but, like, in Saskatchewan, which isn't, you know, known for its robust film studios and things like that but they had a lot of activity just because of their rebate system.
Moving to just the general function -- I know it's always -- it's easier to follow the line items, but going to the trade part of this activity, obviously trade is what we're talking about almost every day incessantly, relentlessly. Do we have sufficient resources in our trade -- in the trade function of this department to manage the, you know, increasingly complicated trade files that are coming forward, whether it's interprovincial trade or the tariff threat? My concern is if we're not sufficiently resourced, it might take a while to catch up with the changes that are happening rapidly across Canada and in the world. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Well, Mr. Chair, I can definitely say that the staff that work on trade within ITI have had an incredibly busy year. We currently sit -- the Northwest Territories is currently the chair on the committee of internal trade, and we've already had three meetings this year at a federal, territorial, provincial level, which I know is a lot of time for staff but I will say huge props to those staff. They are absolute rock stars. They have supported me every step of the way. They have done incredible work not only on behalf of the Northwest Territories but on behalf of Canadians.
We do have experience and expertise within that field. One of the staff that I have had the opportunity to work very closely on that has worked within the file for a decade, and she's incredible. She is incredibly good at her job.
We also work quite closely with Department of Justice and have the honour and privilege of having one of the lawyers who actually negotiated the Canadian Free Trade Agreement on behalf of the Northwest Territories who supports our team. And I do feel that that team is, although very busy, very well supported and they, I'm sure, will continue to be rock stars on support -- or in support of the people of the territory for this very difficult time for Canadians but also they are rising to the challenge. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. And it's always nice to recognize the good work of staff, so I appreciate the Minister's very kind words for public servants.
That being said, are these -- well, not that being said, there's no but here; they're great, thank you. Period. It would be a shame if this was -- because I know in the past, trade has been less significant, and it's been off the corner of someone else's desk. So is this a dedicated kind of trade unit that's doing this work, or is this something that they have to manage on top of other competing priorities? Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
The short answer, yes, this is something that is on top of their other duties for sure. But the other side of this is because we are currently the national chair for committee on internal trade, we are also able to pull on the CIT budget in order to -- we're not expected to fund these additional meetings, which I think is a positive for the territory.
The other piece of this is this was also the area where immigration used to sit within the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and that portion has now been pulled over to ECE, so it does narrow their focus somewhat. And I can say they certainly are very focused right now on trade and investment. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. And that's comforting to know. I wish them well as they continue to navigate the daily grenades that get chucked into the trade landscape seemingly. It's not easy to keep up for anyone, and I can't imagine it's an easy job for them. So thank you for their service, Mr. Chair.
Turning to fisheries in the time I have left, there's been a lot of effort, I know, from the department to grow a North Slave -- or the North Slave side of the fishery business. Hay River has, you know, a long tradition of commercial fishery and successful fishers over time. I've had the privilege to speak to many of them, and I don't want to get into their disagreements with the department on this one; rather, I'd like to know what the plan is to expand the North Slave fishery. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, industry, tourism and investment does have a robust program to support people who want to get into fishing in the Northwest Territories, that they are able to support with equipment that people might need. And then in addition to that, education, culture and employment also does have a wage subsidy program if fishers are wanting to hire deck hands, and so there's a training component there as well and able to kind of do some succession planning for future fishers. Industry, tourism and investment has also been investing in a winter fishery to make it more of a year-round sector as well and because traditionally it has been looked at as more of a summertime program. And then in addition to that, ITI also provides incentives to fishers who are doing kind of the most catch throughout the territory. And currently, for this year, we're looking at different options and programs for the by-products of fish in the territory. So an example of that is fertilizer, for example, using fish by-product as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the next Member on my list is the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So first I just wanted to say that I am actually quite pleased overall with the ITI budget, and I find that in this budget there are some of the more hopeful and shining lights of us making concerted new efforts to achieve the priorities in our mandate. You know, one example of course, being the increases to the film industry rebate program. So I just wanted to commend the Minister and her staff for that.
One question I wanted to ask first, and this is based on page 24 of the business plan. So one of the goals that the department has set for itself is to promote and support mentorship and capacity building programs in all non-extractive sectors, and there's notes there around that there's been 49 participants so far. But I wondered if the Minister could explain what kinds of programs or sectors these participants have been receiving mentorship and capacity building in so we have a better picture. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would love to pass to assistant deputy minister Cyr.
Thank you. I'll go to the ADM.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So with regards to the mentorships, we work very close in partnership with the -- for example, the NWT Tourism. We have NorthernMost Host mentorship programs that are hosted in all our various communities and regions. There's also a hide and fur through our hide and fur program for trappers in collaboration with ECC as well as a number of other ones with -- in the arts, having workshops with artists, whether it's with seal or other products. So that would encompass the 49 that we do have hosted in the last year throughout the five regions.
Okay, thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you for that. I think it's good to get the word out about these opportunities.
I have a question on commercial fisheries, and this relates to the revenue summary also back on page 230 but, you know, we're continuing to support our commercial fisheries, and we had predicted in 2024-2025 that revenues from fish sales were going to increase from $1.2 million to $1.6 million but last year the actual sort of sort of revenues ended up being more like $1.2 million, and now we're predicting again for this coming year still at $1.2 million.
Can the Minister explain what was the hope in terms of expected revenues last year to $1.6 million, and have we given up on whatever that hope is given that we're back to the same expectation for this year, or what's the plan going forward to try to increase revenues on fish sales? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, certainly last year we had some unexpected things happen. First of all, we had an evacuation at the end of the summer where 70 percent of the territory was evacuated and right around Great Slave Lake. The other part of that is we had significantly low water and so the fishers had a really hard time getting their boats into the water and waited them out for a bit and then ended up actually bringing their boats, some of them, over to Yellowknife to get them into the water or to other launch points because Hay River was just too low for them to get them into the water on that side. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I guess the question is so for this coming here, we're still predicting $1.2 million in revenues which was sort of what it was before. I understand there was many disruptions last year and the year before. Are we predicting, though, that revenues will increase or are we actively taking steps to try to make it increase, you know, barring further disasters and evacuations and plagues and all the rest? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Absolutely, the goal is to see the fish plant generate more and more revenue every year like a business. It is not the GNWT's intention to forever operate and own a fish plant. So what we really want to do is to be able to show that it's profitable and show what it can do. Currently, it is being operated by FFMC and so we work with them in order to understand what the forecast will be, but our goal is to look at some of those byproduct offshoots, make sure that we're encouraging and supporting fishers to get out on the lake, making sure that people are aware of these programs, and making sure that we're continuing to grow the sector and grow the industry. I think that, especially with the conversations that are happening right now across the country about buying Canadian, there's definitely always new opportunities to do some more internal trade and then also opportunities as well that lead us into other international markets too. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So it sounds like we are hopeful that we will exceed our revenue estimates or expectations for this year. I do hope to see that and certainly open to future conversations if we're encountering continuing challenges and barriers on how we can keep improving our fishing sector, which is very important.
I wanted to turn now to another one of ITI's goals in the business plan is to ensure there can be a transfer of skills from mine closure into new areas, and this is specifically listed under the housing priority. So I would interpret that to mean that the intention is to ensure that workers who might be transitioning away from a job with a mine that's closing could then work somehow in the housing sector. Can the Minister explain what the department is doing to try to make that happen or how she sees that pathway working for workers who might be losing their jobs at mines that are closing. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, we're working closely with Diavik. Diavik has their My Path program where they identify, you know, who the worker is, what their skill set is, and what their intentions post closure are. So some people intend to retire. Some people intend to start their own business. I had the opportunity to sit with a Member from the South Slave -- sorry, with a resident from the South Slave who currently works at Diavik and is in the process of putting their ducks in a row to get their own business started. And some of them intend to stay with Rio Tinto proper and look at new opportunities. But there are some people who are wanting to return to their home community and are not ready for retirement. And so the intent there is to ensure that we don't lose any skilled workers, and if somebody is returning to their home community and is, per se, an electrician or has gained experience as a heavy duty mechanic or whatever their skill set may be, we certainly don't want to lose their skill set or lose them from their home community. And so certainly trying to ensure that we are aligned with Diavik, that if there are people in that situation that we can ensure that we're connecting them with other opportunities in their home community. I know that in conversation with Housing NWT that at times they are missing some of the trades people that they need in order to do maintenance of their units and their infrastructure. So ensuring that we're connecting with people -- connecting people with opportunity is key. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
