Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. I recognize it's a pandemic year, and we rushed to find some money. It's good we spent an extra million on SEED. However, I note even in the last actuals SEED was oversubscribed. It's one of those programs that is consistently oversubscribed, which is a good thing. I also expect that the need for economic recovery is not going to disappear in the next fiscal year. Is the department expecting that we will find more SEED money, and if so, can we just simply make this budget a little more accurate and increase it? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Best answer I could have had. I would like to plant in the Minister's ears, perhaps, I know this isn't a lot, $500, but it is a bit of a barrier to entry to starting a business. I know the tourism act was created to, perhaps, promote tourism, but it has quite a process that may disincentivize some of the smaller people who want to dip their toes into the waters. I don't view a tourism operator licence as the type of licence that has to generate revenue. It seems completely counterintuitive that we charge all of our tourism operators, especially the small seasonal ones, $500 every...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad the department is working on it. Our beverage recycling program is one of the best in the country. We have extremely high rates of return, and it's a model for success. Does the Minister have an idea of when someone will actually be able to return some recycling in downtown Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Historically, we spend about 10 percent of the tourism product diversification program on southern operators, recognizing that 90 percent goes to northern operators. That's great, but I don't really understand why we give public money to businesses not based in the Northwest Territories to run tourism operations here. Is the Minister willing to amend the tourism product diversification program to make it only northern businesses? Thank you.

Perhaps there is some misunderstanding by me on exactly how we give out the licences. I understand they were renewed and that previous licence holders got them in 2020. In 2022, we will once again decide whether to renew them, but I'm asking when they went out for a proposal process. I know the department has done this in the past, and there have been some issues. What I'm asking is: was the 2021 the result of a competitive process to run the depots, which can actually be quite profitable?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't need to get into a very large debate about, perhaps, ITI reviewing some of its mandate and restructuring some of its departments. I'll leave that to another time. Can I just get a clarification: in the 2019-2020 actuals for the NWT geological survey, there's actually a $1.3 million decline. Can I just get an explanation for that? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it's our job in this House to look at the large systemic issues that affect all of the people of the NWT, but it is also our job in this House to look at the small incremental changes that can help those people. I believe the GNWT, in order to become a much more adaptable public service, needs to change the way it operates. In order to create an adaptable government, we require a four-step approach to approaching the smaller problems:

identify where people are struggling going about their daily lives;

identify the next smallest thing that can be done today to mitigate that struggle...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Perhaps, I could just get a clarification then. I'm looking at page 217, and I see we added one position in the Beaufort-Delta and three to headquarters. I believe the three to headquarters are for the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Act implementation, but can I just get confirmation of what the four positions being added to the mineral and petroleum resources unit are for? Page 217. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can I get an update of what the MAARS system costs? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a comment that I would be supportive. The BDIC can't necessarily take on that money, but the GNWT can. If there is some way to make sure those loan deferrals happen, it has to happen through the GNWT, and I am happy to see that. I am very eagerly awaiting the film policy, and I have spoken previously about some sort of film producers' incentive policy. My concerns right now with the film industry rebate program is that I'm not sure it's necessarily convincing anyone to come here. It's a good program, and it does encourage a little bit of northern labour. The fact...