David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following four documents, entitled “Northwest Territories Economic Opportunities Strategy: Connecting Business and Communities to Economic Development Opportunities – Progress Report 2014-2015;” “Northwest Territories Mineral Development Strategy Implementation: Progress Report April 1, 2014 – March 31, 2015;” “Towards a Northwest Territories Agricultural Strategy – What we Learned;” and “Follow-up Letter for OQ 881-17(5): Support for Regional Tourism Centres.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I do know and I am aware that the RCMP do provide transport and do that type of work. I’ve seen it myself as well. I will go back to the department, as I mentioned in response to a previous question, and get some further detail on this.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To my knowledge, it’s corrections services that transports people back and forth between the facility and the courthouse. I can look into this matter further for the Member and get some further detail, but to my knowledge, it’s corrections services that provides that service and not the RCMP. Thank you.

Again, the secondary industry is in a bit of a downturn. The economics aren’t very good. Factories are closing around the world. We sold the two factory buildings on Archibald Street a year and a half ago and we continue to hope that at some point in time those factories do open, but right now we don’t have people banging our door down to get into this business. We’ve also got revenue from leases on those buildings.

Again, the purchase price of those buildings was somewhere near $2 million that the government was able to recoup.

Again, our hope is that at some point in time those buildings are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The secondary industry and the benefaction when it comes to diamonds around the world has been hit very hard. There have been factories closing in locations like Namibia, Vietnam and even in India, lower cost environments. So the economics right now aren’t, obviously, the best.

The issue the Member talks about is a private business matter and really we shouldn’t be discussing that on the floor of this House. Thank you.

The numbers I spoke of earlier, I think a direct correlation can be drawn with the fact that this government, and with the support of that side of the House, supported the increased efforts in marketing our tourism industry here in the Northwest Territories, promoting the products that we have here, and I think the numbers we’re starting to see now are paying off. That investment is certainly paying off.

We shouldn’t kid ourselves, though. Out of the 13 jurisdictions in this country, the Northwest Territories ranks 12th in terms of what we put into marketing the tourism industry. We have seen...

Operationally it would be as usual. Again, we are looking forward to December when we can increase the level of service to the community of Tsiigehtchic. I should mention, as well, that between January 1, 2015, and up until the end of July 2015, there were 40 calls for service during that period of time in the community of Tsiigehtchic. Thank you.

We continue to work with ENR on the traditional economy on the area of trapping. As I mentioned to the Member, there are currently approximately 100 trappers in the Sahtu. We actively support the marketing of the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program. Over the past four years, they’ve averaged about $370,000 per year in fur sales and an additional $84,000 in fur bonus and grubstake payments to trappers. Over the four years, the total for Sahtu trappers is nearly $2 million, so it’s a tremendous opportunity. This money goes directly back into trappers’ pockets and back into local economies in...

The Selwyn-Chihong Project, which straddles the Yukon-Northwest Territories border, holds great promise and great potential not only for the Sahtu, but for the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. It is a world-class lead-zinc deposit, as the Member indicated, with somewhere around 800 to 850 permanent jobs. I know the company has been into a number of communities in the Sahtu. They’ve been talking to the leadership in the Sahtu about potential IBAs and other opportunities for the Sahtu when it comes to the development of that project. We’re very excited. Initial mine plans had the company...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 63, An Act to Amend the Victims of Crime Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.