Bob McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As the Member may or may not know, through our socio-economic agreements, diamond mines could make up to ten per cent of their diamond rough production available for secondary manufacturing. This is a sector that we have been trying to make it a going concern and to make it sustainable. We are still of that view. We believe that, as the production of diamonds increases in the Northwest Territories, that we will continue to do so. We will continue to work to develop the secondary diamond industry so that we can increase the value added to here in the Northwest Territories...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We’ll review the terms of reference of the Mineral Industry Advisory Board and see if it falls within the parameters, but we’re always prepared to look at all boards. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We cannot deny that we sit in the down cycle of the commodity markets right now. This is something we have seen before. Commodity markets rise, they fall, they recover. It’s a natural flow of the markets. As we sit in this downturn, our government is hard at work ensuring our jurisdiction will be ready to capitalize on the next peak in commodities. ITI has started work reviewing the Oil and Gas Operations Act and the Petroleum Resources Act, regulations pursuant to those acts, and associated policies. Policy intent discussion papers are being developed which will introduce potential changes...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That money is part of the socio-economic agreement that we negotiated with Canadian Zinc and it is money that we spend to meet with the communities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. The total amount does not change, but the tourism diversification program will be put back to, made whole, I guess is the best way to put it, and that funding will come from other O and M. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe that, through the budgeting process, normally we review the process with committee to see how it can be improved on, including the reporting and detail. My understanding is that is available. That is an exercise that is done on an annual basis. My understanding is that this is a template that all departments use. Certainly, if the committee feels that we should break it out into finer detail, we are quite prepared to do so. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. The chamber has a number of Aboriginal business people, Aboriginal miners on their board. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Much work has been done on the oil and gas strategy in the latter stage of the 17th Legislative Assembly, including the release of the public engagement report “Pathways to Petroleum Development.” The strategy was recently identified as a mandate priority for the 18th Legislative Assembly. The resource sector is the single-largest contributor to the Northwest Territories’ economy. Our territory has world-class oil and natural gas reserves and has had an active petroleum industry for a century. The draft strategy is being reviewed and edited by a Government of Northwest Territories...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Primarily for helping build business capacity in the Aboriginal governments, Aboriginal capacity building and community consultations, as well as resource pre-development program. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I didn’t understand his question.