Bob McLeod

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to present the Department of Human Resources main estimates for the fiscal year 2010-2011. The mandate of the department is to provide leadership and direction to the Government of the Northwest Territories, its boards and agencies, in all areas of human resource management.

The Department of Human Resources is the face of the Government of the Northwest Territories as an employer. As the human resource service agency of the Government of the Northwest Territories, we are responsible for the development and implementation of government-wide human resource management...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Al and Feb Bohnet on their 65th wedding anniversary, and all their extended family of Bohnets who are here today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The main reason for the increase is for the implementation of 20/20. So contracts have increased by $2.1 million for that purpose. Also, it includes funding for Employee and Family Assistance Program, HAY training, labour relation, a very small section. So the primary reason is for implementation of the 20/20 Strategic Plan. Thank you.

We’d be very pleased to be able to work with the fishermen to identify opportunities and plans to work with them in setting up their businesses so they can market Northwest Territories fish which, similar to the fur, is some of the best in the world. One of the things we have to do is work with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to determine responsibilities in terms of dealing with fishermen on Great Slave Lake. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Member is correct in his observation in that younger people, how green the place of employment is, is a factor in their decision-making. So the Government of the Northwest Territories does have a departmental Green Team. The terms of reference have been developed and the following departments are represented on the team: Environment and Renewable Resources; Industry, Tourism and Investment; Public Works; Municipal and Community Affairs; Justice; Housing Corporation; Human Resources; Aboriginal Affairs; and Transportation. So the team is right now finalizing a comprehensive inventory of...

We are expecting the results of all of the detailed work by April 2010. The expectation is that by October we would have our cost estimates and work plan developed. Assuming that the project is technically, environmentally and financially viable, then we would proceed through the regulatory process. Mini-hydro has a very small footprint so it won’t be flooding any large areas. The powerhouse is very small and the transmission line is very short; it’s only 17 kilometres. So our expectation is it wouldn’t take us very long to get regulatory approval. Assuming that, probably the earliest we could...

There are a number of ways we can analyze how successful we’ve been at Northern House. One is to impute the value of all of the media coverage that we’ve been getting. We’ve been on major international networks, we are getting a lot of coverage from the tourism media and different newspapers and publications, so that’s one way of imputing value. If we had to pay for all that coverage, it would probably be in the millions of dollars, perhaps in the tens of millions of dollars.

Other ways will depend on how many people come to the Northwest Territories, and we capture that information through our...

When I say we’re looking and studying Fred Henne Park, we’re looking at the available land that we have. We’re also looking at how many campsites we can build in there. Once we get all of that information we’ll have to put together a business case so we can come to the Legislative Assembly as part of our business planning process to obtain additional resources so that we can expand our capacity for RV camping. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, many Northwest Territories residents are watching with great interest as our Canadian athletes, including Hay River’s own Brendan Green, strive to “Own the Podium” at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

It is important to note that the Olympics are more than just a sporting event. These Olympics are not just Vancouver’s games, but Canada’s games and, more importantly, have been the first Olympics to fully partner with aboriginal people. The 2010 Olympics are also a celebration of arts and culture, which we witnessed when our performing artists put on a tremendous show during the Victory Day...

It’s our expectation to do exactly that, so we can commit to doing that, Mr. Speaker.