David Ramsay

That wouldn’t be a fair comparison in that there are different land tenures in that park at Prelude Lake and the road itself isn’t the responsibility of the park until you get into the park itself. I guess a comparison might be, say, Pontoon Lake Park where there is a bit of an access road into Pontoon Lake. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The court party is required to travel to communities to hear court matters, and in some cases road travel is the most economical and logistical way to travel. All circuits range from three to five days in duration and, in the case of Behchoko, the vehicle accumulates between 600 and 1,000 kilometres per week. There are between five and eight staff who travel on these circuits and are required to bring all items required to conduct court, such as files for court, hard of hearing equipment, interpretation equipment, CCTV equipment, laptops with portable printers...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It’s my pleasure to introduce to the House the witnesses I have with me today. To my right is Ms. Kelly Kaylo, assistant deputy minister of ITI; to my left is Ms. Rhona Stanislaus, acting director of finance and administration with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

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.

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.

I can get the information for the Member on the $50,000 and how it was spent in each of our regions and where it went. I can provide that to him. We have to look back at the Economic Opportunities Strategy and our focus on diversifying the economy here in the Northwest Territories. Certainly, tourism is one area last year, I believe, it was somewhere near $120 million to our economy here in the Northwest Territories. It has the opportunity, and I’ve said before in the House, to have an impact in every one of our communities across the territory, so it’s important that we have the requisite...