Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will pass to the director.
Thank you. I will go to the director.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So for the 2025-2026 revised estimates, we had a bunch of funding from the federal government that we were able to carry over from the 2024-2025 fiscal year, and then that funding has come to an end, which reflects the decrease of the 2026-2027 Main Estimates. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you. Could I get some more detail about what was carried over. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the director.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the carryovers were for the nature fund agreement, the Deh Cho Protected Areas Agreement, the Inuvialuit Protected Areas Agreement. And then we did sign a new agreement for the NWT nature fund during the year, and that was just a one-year agreement, so that's reflected in there as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you. I appreciate that. And just one last item on the mains. There is a decrease of slightly over, I think, $600,000 for land use and sustainability from last year's mains to this year's mains. Can the Minister please explain what will be affected by this reduction. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the director.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So one of the items in there was a reduction of a position that has been vacant for a long time and has a number of the same positions, so the work will continue in the department with existing resources. And the other reduction was money for unauthorized occupancy work, and, again, we're using internal resources for that until the next funding opportunity for next fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't want to reiterate all of my colleague from Frame Lake's comments around the legislative slate for the department. Obviously, this is very important to the committee, and I would just echo those sentiments. But other than that, nothing else for me, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Thank you. Is there any further questions? I will go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to follow up a bit more. We just heard there's a sunset of funding for two positions that supported something to do with the MVRMA, and it's a bit confusing. The MVRMA, obviously, is a federal act that has been there for very many years. Can the Minister or his staff explain a bit more what were those positions supposed to be doing in relation to the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, those positions were created by the department during devolution to work on the regulatory issues related to the MVRMA. Since their establishment, the positions have supported works related to land and resource legislation, including Public Lands Act, Forest Act, water regulations, and others. These functions will continue to be funded within the department's existing resources with no employees affected.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Okay, thank you for that. Can the Minister explain how the two positions are sunsetting? And so we're losing two positions, but no employees are actually going to be affected? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The positions were vacant. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Does the Minister happen to know what is the total list of vacant positions right now within ECC, especially those that have been vacant for, say, more than two years? I am not sure if the Minister has that data offhand. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't have that level of detail with me but happy to provide it to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's all for now.
Thank you. Is there any further questions? Okay. Seeing none. Please turn to page 90.
Environment and Climate Change, Policy and Strategic Planning, $12,294,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Moving on to the regulatory assessment and authorization, beginning on page 94, with information items on page 96 and 97. Are there any questions?
I will go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to ask about the positions that the finance Minister announced in her budget address. That's my first question, is just if the Minister can give us a bit more detail on those. Yeah, thanks.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, those are two positions that were created. They'll be based in Fort Smith, and their role is to primarily support the housing initiative so that we have more resources to advance the land acquisitions to support housing across the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. I noted in the previous iteration of the business plan it spoke to a bulk lands transfer process that had been requested and remains in progress and it is no longer being mentioned there. There was a couple different changes. There was -- according to the old plan, 152 fee simple title applications are in progress, 34 in the review stage, 98 applications are being prepared for execution. So were all 98 of those applications finished and transferred over, or can the Minister help us understand kind of what is comprised in the new business plan update with the 158 fee simple title applications that are currently in progress? Thanks.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, sort of a progress update. So progress since the start of the Assembly, there's been 162 parcels transferred, 89 are being prepared, 18 have been transferred to fee simple for housing since April 1st of 2025, and there are currently 420 applications that are in progress in our last reporting cycle. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Okay, thank you. Can the Minister just help us understand why the number has increased so drastically since the last time the business plan was updated? Because I thought this thing was just printed a week ago.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, these are a result of the increased amount of federal funding that's been available to Indigenous governments as well as the territorial government, which is increasing the demand for land on a pretty consistent basis. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Frame Lake.
Okay, thank you. And I might have missed it in the Minister's answer, but I was wondering about the bulk transfer process that was in the previous iteration of the business plan and ended up not in it now. Has a bulk land transfer process been completed, or what happened with that process between the last plan and this one?
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will pass to the deputy minister.
Okay. I will go to the deputy minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So, you know, in terms of bulk land transfers, we're open to working with communities on bulk land transfers. You know, we've been working closely with the City of Yellowknife, for example. They've been applying for parcels of land that are larger than one block, and so we've been sort of working through those applications, and we're continuing to process those. And so it is reflected. It might not be referenced as bulk land transfers, but we are open to working with communities. And there's a number that have expressed interest in potentially initiating a bulk land transfer. This includes Hay River, Inuvik, Fort Good Hope, and Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I am going to go back to the Member from Frame Lake.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. Just staying on Yellowknife, I know that, you know, there's already been a fair bit of chat back and forth on the floor of the House this sitting about land needed for military investment, land needed for housing. So I know there's one big parcel that the city's applied for in the kind of northern side of Frame Lake. I am curious to know how that process is proceeding and whether the new staff that the department has taken on is going to help processes like that move more quickly. And -- well, maybe I will start with that one, and I will ask the military one next. Thanks.
