Bob McLeod

We always consult very closely with the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Investment, so we would be doing that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Our regional offices will be providing that information to the communities. We have met with the TFA and set up that process for doing so.

We will be seeking input from filmmakers in the Northwest Territories. Our preference is doing it internally. We don’t want to be accused of relying too much on outside consultants to do things that could be done internally. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

This I guess has been around for quite a few years. This is the latest extension. We have met with the Territorial Farmers’ Association and there’s a whole host of initiatives that potentially could be funded through this agreement. I guess we say “potentially” because it’s quite a rigorous paper process to access the funding. Some of the initiatives include small-scale foods, northern agri-foods, commercial game harvest, traditional harvest, inter-settlement trade, environment, Bison Strategy, national strategic initiatives. That’s what we’re looking at there.

We have a variety of delivery agents and either they’re ITI staff or they’re community transferred positions or we contract with a band or some other entity to provide the service. So what we do is if it’s a community transferred position, we review it periodically. We make sure that the funding we’ve been providing is adequate. We bring together all of our delivery agents together on a regular basis to make sure that everybody has the same information and also to communicate and market the programs that we have. If the Member feels that that’s not happening in his community, well, we will...

That’s correct, Mr. Chairman. Those dollars have to be confirmed so that we can include it. They will probably show up next year.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am quite familiar with the history of the Fort Resolution sawmill. I think that it was in existence for quite a long period of time through different management regimes and the last operation that I am familiar with, it was owned by the NWT Development Corporation. At that time, there was always an issue with accessing timber and that’s still an issue for forestry operators in the Northwest Territories.

The biggest problem in finding an efficient sawmill that could maximize the utilization of the timber. I believe, if I recall correctly, the recovery rate was something...

Thank you. Yes, I would certainly support that, working with the region. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The BDIC’s mandate is to provide for business opportunities to create jobs. We have a subsidiary program which operates on the premise that it’s better to have people working, even if the business operation is losing money. So if you can create jobs and if the government or if the corporation has to provide a top-up so that jobs are created, we are prepared to do that. We are mandated by the Financial Management Board, so for every job created, we can top up the contribution up to a maximum of $25,000 per job. So we have a number of subsidiaries that operate on that basis...

I should point out, also, that through the Minister of Youth, they are also involved in this Take-a-Kid Trapping Program. Thank you, Mr. Chair.