Presently we have a Small Market Garden Initiative whereby we make equipment available in communities that are interested in participating so that they could grow potatoes, vegetables and what have you, and 18 of the 33 communities have taken advantage of that program and are growing vegetables and so on. We have the Growing Forward Agreement that was recently renewed with the federal government that provides assistance on a number of areas to promote agriculture, and those are the two primary areas that we’re involved in. Also, we’re trying to find ways to promote more local production in a...

The Member correctly points out the inherent challenges in agriculture and farming in the Northwest Territories is lack of access to land. The many examples that were used, I know in Fort Providence there was a large attempt at introducing farming and ranching in the 1980s and that failed mainly because of the lack of access to land, amongst other challenges. But certainly our government works through land claims negotiations. We don’t have access to lands, we don’t own lands as such other than the federal government owns the majority of the lands, the other large landholders are aboriginal...

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to recognize Gord Norberg and Carol. Gord is a fellow student from Grandin College and a former goalie. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document titled Government of the Northwest Territories 2008 Public Service Annual Report.

TABLED DOCUMENT 43-16(4):

SUMMARY OF MEMBERS’ ABSENCES FOR THE PERIOD MAY 27, 2009, TO OCTOBER 14, 2009

I think the definitions of traditional harvest can be interpreted quite broadly so that it’s not restricted to specifically hunting and fishing, for example. So on that basis, it can be used for a number of different purposes. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s a number of programs that are covered under the Growing Forward Initiative, and I could go through and list them all or...These include small scale foods, which has a budget of $700,000 over the period of the agreement; northern hydro foods, which has a budget of $380,000; commercial game harvest, $320,000; traditional harvest, $1.160 million; inter-settlement trade, $120,000; environment, $40,000; Bison Strategy, $200,000; national strategic initiatives, $334,000. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As a government, we have a process for participating in the various land claims and self-government organizations, and we do have a process for identifying issues for our negotiators to raise. Certainly I’ll communicate the Member’s interests to the Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to provide an update on the mining industry in the Northwest Territories.

Economic activity relies strongly on the use of natural resources. We live in a global era with a rapidly expanding world population dependent on the sustainable development of resources. Fortunately, in the Northwest Territories, we are blessed with an endowment of non-renewable resources and have been successful in using these to sustain economic growth.

Mineral exploration has brought significant economic opportunities to our Territory.

In 2007, almost $200 million was spent on mineral...

I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but I think the main thing we want to do right now is we want to make sure that all of the factories are operating. Diamonds have been produced in the Northwest Territories for 10 years now. We have learned a lot over the 10 years and we think that we can find ways in working with the manufacturers so that their operations can become more effective and efficient, and, hopefully, we expect that they will become more feasible. So we feel that there are things we can improve upon. We can become more effective so we can move faster. We can have a little...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think I heard two questions there. I think we have no problem with the Canadian diamond industry growing. We think it’s to the benefit of the Northwest Territories, and certainly with a strong diamond sector, we can change the definition of a Canadian diamond, which will be to our benefit. We don’t believe that we are falling behind, but there are some challenges.

Everybody knows that it’s much more difficult and more costly to operate up here in the Northwest Territories. Secondly, the provinces where these operations are being conducted, Ontario, Saskatchewan, they...