Bob McLeod

There was an extensive report that was done that indicated that this government was very deficient in a number of communication positions compared to other jurisdictions, and it recommended increasing a number of positions that were approved in the 17th Assembly. Every department in the government does have communications personnel. Because it is functioning, the responsibilities function over the whole government, it was determined that these positions would remain in the Department of the Executive.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will work closely with the Regular Members in developing this report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories holds a virtually untapped wealth of oil and gas resources. The jobs, income and revenues associated with the responsible development of those resources represent an enormous economic and social development opportunity for the people of the Northwest Territories. Our government is taking steps to realize those opportunities on behalf of our residents. The Government of the Northwest Territories has made a commitment in its mandate to develop a long-term strategy to attract oil and gas development in the territory. I look forward to presenting a draft NWT...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair, that’s correct as well. Thank you.

I have already written to the Indigenous Affairs Minister a number of times. I have met with her at least three or four times. We will be meeting again in the coming months. I am quite prepared to write to her again to specifically ask her about the environmental assessment and if she has any timelines.

We have engaged in the federal government on a number of fronts on this because it is a very important matter to us. The MVRMA is a product of land claims negotiations in the Mackenzie Valley. The goal of this legislation is to provide a single process. It provides a voice for each of the groups. Although the legislation is federal, it is the result of a collaborative process. In our minds there are three types of activities right now, all linked to the MVRMA. First and foremost is the fact that as the Member indicated Canada made a number of changes to the MVRMA that impacted the North. It is...

The Negotiated Contracts Policy will be reviewed again in the fall of 2016, and the results will be shared with the standing committee. We will involve the standing committees. As per land claims agreements, one of the requirements is under economic measures; we have responsibility to also engage the community governments, so we do that in a normal course of events, Mr. Speaker.

Local employment is always a factor when considering negotiated contracts but not at any costs, Mr. Speaker. We also have rules that govern our business incentive policies and our northern preference policies. The Member referred to the Inuvik Tuk Highway. In that case, there was the benefits and jobs are available, 600 jobs a year, 80 per cent provided by Northerners for Northerners.

What we find in our travels as we go out to the regions, as we go out and talk to the people of the Northwest Territories is that a lot of the people don’t realize what a good job that we do or they don’t recognize the number of important programs that we deliver. Through our communications people we want everybody to know what programs we have, what benefits we can provide so that everybody can make sure that they benefit to the maximum from all of the generous programs that this government provides.

We will be developing a draft approach to how we would come up with a report, and we will share it with the Regular Members.