David Ramsay

I don’t have a crystal ball. I’m not sure who’s going to be back and who’s going to be in which position, but it’s safe to say, early in the life of the next government the Agriculture Strategy will be put forward to the 18th Legislative Assembly and debated by Members of that government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We can try to get the Members more detailed information on the scope. We are going to be combining the MEP and the rental office. It is a costly venture to be combining these two spaces and putting in the requisite security requirements into the space.

That would be between $50,000 and $400,000.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve worked with communities with business development officers, economic development officers, to identify opportunities for folks to get into business. We have our SEED program, a loan program, as well as we have the BDIC for folks who are interested in getting some of these opportunities that a new biomass facility is going to bring to the Northwest Territories.

In the Member’s riding and in the South Slave, these jobs are desperately needed. We understand that. That’s why government fully supports the development of that wood pellet facility in the South Slave. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like other government departments, we’ve committed to support the development of the wood pellet industry here in the Northwest Territories, and we do have programs related to business start-up. Our South Slave office has been busy in talking to folks who want to get into trucking the harvest of timber and other pursuits related to biomass. Thank you.

Forest fires aren’t always bad. As we know, they produce morel mushrooms and we’ve seen some economic benefit from that. As well, Mr. Speaker, with the trees that have burnt, there are opportunities to harvest those for biomass as well. We’ve had some discussions with folks who are interested in doing just that. I would encourage folks, if they are in the Member’s communities, if they want to approach the Department of ITI, we would be interested in talking to them about harvesting that resource. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we’re very excited about the prospect of the pellet facility in the South Slave. We will take direction on the development of that facility in the ensuing business opportunities for business start-up in the South Slave related to that new biomass facility. So, we’re waiting for ground to break on that and the opportunities that it will bring. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is immense oil and gas potential in our territory and this government is committed to establishing the tools and resources with which it can be developed in a balanced and responsible way. We are also committed to ensuring that Members of the Legislative Assembly, the public, Aboriginal leaders and other stakeholders have a role to play in the development of those tools and resources.

Like our mineral resources have in the past, we believe that oil and gas resources can provide needed economic opportunities for our communities, residents and businesses...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following three documents, entitled “Government of the Northwest Territories China Strategy and Action Plan,” “26th Annual Report 2014-2015 Victims Assistance Committee of the Northwest Territories,” and “Annual Report on the Activities of the Rental Office: April 1, 2014 to March 21, 2015.” Thank you.

We’re not going to have a successful tourism industry here in the Northwest Territories unless we’ve got dedicated, trained front-line staff providing the services to the visiting public. It was highlighted in the Economic Opportunities Strategy the need for tourism training, and we’re undertaking that. We’ve dedicated some funding for tourism-related training, and again, we’re working with the Northwest Territories Tourism, our tour operators around the Northwest Territories to get this training in place and get as many folks trained in providing quality customer service to the travelling...