Kevin O'Reilly

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I can see where this could lead to some potential difficulties. If our government comes before the Inuvialuit Water Board seeking a water licence at some point, it puts those staff in a really difficult situation. Has there been any discussion with the Water Board in terms of transferring the staff to the administration of the board itself as is the case for the other land and water boards? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I'm quite concerned about further reductions in other parts of the department. I don't want to have to go back and re-live what happened with our discussion in corporate management and how I don't believe the department has the capacity to carry out what it's trying to do.

Look, does the Minister of Finance, as well? Is this something that he can take to the Financial Management Board and get them to just leave this extra $1 million reduction for ENR so that they can get the work done that's required? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. It looks like there is going to have to be a supplementary appropriation for this. I probably don't need to impress upon the Minister or his staff the significance of taking on a large area like this and managing it properly as a protected area equivalent to a national park. That does require a significant investment of funds from our government.

There are also significant benefits that are going to come, and I look forward to having more of a discussion with him moving forward, but if we are going to really take this on, we have to do it right. We have to find the money to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, that is what I thought I was going to hear.

We received funding under the devolution agreement, then, from the federal government to actually help us pay for this. This was part of the devolution agreement, so we are using the funds that we got to help pay for the board. Is that correct? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess we'd just have to see how this rolls out. On the same page in the business plan, there's this ominous line that reads, "ENR to return to Financial Management Board with alternate reductions of $500,000 in each of 2018-2019 and 2019-2020." That seems to have been deferred back by a year. Can someone tell me what that is all about? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. $290,000. I don't know what the square kilometres for our portion of that network of area are, but that does not sound like a lot of money to start coordinated management planning and so on. I know Parks Canada spends significantly more for similar areas or national parks in the NWT. I am just going to leave that with the Minister, but when can he provide committee with a costed plan moving forward for the management of the territorial portion of Thaidene Nene? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. We still do not have a Bathurst caribou range plan, and not one square centimetre of habitat has been set aside or protected in any way for this herd. So far the harvesters have, and the Minister talked about this, made extraordinary efforts, and they have restricted their harvesting now for the last three or four winters. The harvesters are doing their part. Our government is not doing our part on protecting the habitat. When are we going to see a completed range plan that's going to start to look at habitat protection, more than just caribou...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If we have to go and contract additional time on an as-required basis, presumably that would be a higher per-hour rate. Is that true? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. In the Minister's opening remarks, and it is found in the budget address as well, there is $440,000 of new funding for conservation area planning. Is any of that for Thaidene Nene? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay. We have some hints that there might be some federal money coming, so that gives us reason to cut back our contribution to boreal caribou monitoring? That just doesn't make any sense to me. I am going to leave this one for now. I do not think this is a good cut. I think it is another one that is being made for Cabinet's fiscal reduction strategy that is not evidence-based. I do not know why the department is doing this. It does not make any sense whatsoever. I want to move on, though, to barren-ground caribou, and there is a line item in the business plan that reads...