Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, Fisheries has stayed with the feds. It's being devolved to the territories. We're in the early stages of discussions with the feds on that, but the Fisheries part did stay with the feds. That's the reason that we had to try to go through DFO to get the one-day fishing licence. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, well, first of all, we look after our own territory, but if it is not a busy fire season and if we have the resources, the answer is yes, we will look at letting other jurisdictions use them. I am assuming we get paid for that, but I will confirm. We do get paid for that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, as the deputy said before in response to your earlier questions, we haven't had the conversations at an officials' level. We haven't had it at a political yet. If they're looking at some different options, I'm sure they will bring them forward. The Member's quick question was: will I commit to bring this information to committee if they request it? I would be glad to do that. Let's gather some information, and then we will present to committee, and then we'll see the kind of feedback we get from committee. There's an opportunity that we still have a number of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first I will just speak to the funding of the $290,000. I said before it was to increase the funding for monitoring of the Canada protected areas, and $290,000 was specifically earmarked for Thaidene Nene, and that was to conclude the planning and decision-making.

Again, as we get close to finalizing it, we have been working on some preliminary numbers as to what it might cost us. I will finalize those numbers. I will share them with committee. As far as billing or capacity, we will work with ITI and see what is needed to enhance our capacity to monitor and...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the 13 positions are in Fort Simpson. My understanding is in the other communities, the work is done by existing fire crews that we have on staff, but there are 13 positions in Fort Simpson in the Deh Cho region. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. As Ms. Craig pointed out, they are employees of the public service, so ENR. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the report that was done a few years ago, there were recommendations that were made. We've integrated a lot of those recommendations into how we do business as we go forward. We've been able to do that with the existing funding, and if there's a need to acquire additional funding to help us implement some of those, then ENR will come forward with the proper appropriation. I'm thinking ENR has done a good job in integrating those recommendations into the existing budget on how we deal with those as we go forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, there is $481,000 left in the budget. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my understanding is that the $290,000 is increased funding to the funding that is already there. As far as the funding that is already there, I don't have that information at my fingertips, but I will undertake to gather that information and share it with committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my understanding is that we get enough applications that this program is fully utilized, and so all of the money goes out the door as far as the number of applications we get and the dollar figure that is attached to them. I do not really have that at my fingertips. I will check with the department, though, because that is an interesting question. I will check with the department to see what actual dollar value the requests come in at and whether it is close to the $75,000 or over. Thank you, Mr. Chair.