David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I represent the riding of Kam Lake in this Legislative Assembly and it’s a great riding full of great people, but it certainly has two great schools and one of those schools is well represented here in the gallery today, and that’s N.J. Macpherson. I just wanted to thank all the students, staff and parents that are up there for coming out here today to support Anti-Bullying Day.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled Northwest Territories Marketing Plan 2013-2014. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we do have to work together. I mentioned this, again, in response to some earlier questions on the same matter. We have to continue the dialogue with industry. We have to continue the dialogue with Members. I think instead of just complaining about it, offering up solutions on what could happen, and that is going to happen by that dialogue continuing.

There are reasons that I work with the Minister of Health and Social Services, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. It is a much bigger issue than mines not hitting employment targets. There’s a lot of underlying issues...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The three mines were before the Member’s committee last fall. I mentioned to the Member earlier this week that I would be more than happy to set up a meeting between him and his committee, myself and the three mines. We can go over any questions the Member or his committee has. Those questions can be raised and answered by the mining companies. Thank you.

I think, working with the folks in Hay River, we could come up with a plan. I will commit to the Member today that I’ll go back to the department and discuss this option with them and, hopefully, we can formulate a plan on next steps when it comes to a dredging program for the port of Hay River.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue with dredging the port of Hay River is certainly a big issue. The port hasn’t been dredged in close to 20 years. The Member is correct; there is a lot of silt being built up there and the navigation channel is being blocked. We do have to find some substantial capital dollars, however, to have a dredging program there, that’s why it’s important that we continue the dialogue with the federal government in hopes that they will rekindle the dredging program that they ran prior to 1994.

Mr. Speaker, tourism is a vital industry here in the Northwest Territories. It is our largest renewable industry and attracted close to 70,000 visitors and over $100 million in new spending last year. Of all sectors, tourism presents the greatest likelihood of creating economic opportunities in each region, especially in the smaller communities.

Because of the importance and the potential of our tourism industry, it is critical that we develop effective plans to market the NWT’s outstanding range of tourism products.

Mr. Speaker, with that goal in mind, I am extremely pleased with NWT Tourism’s...

We haven’t had discussions. I know ITI has not had discussions as of yet with ECE on looking at putting a component in the schools, but that is a very good idea and certainly something that I will follow up on.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in response to Mrs. Groenewegen’s questions earlier, we have met with the TFA. We are aware of the training that they are proposing. We plan to meet with them again next week in Yellowknife. We are hoping to conclude negotiations on the Growing Forward Fund by the end of this fiscal year, another four weeks or so, at which time, I do believe, we’ll be able to provide some assistance and help in order to see this farmer training taking place in Hay River. We are very hopeful that it will happen.

My role as Minister of ITI when we attend a session like the Sahtu Readiness Session, is to take the information back to the Cabinet table and make my colleagues aware of what is happening in the Sahtu. After what happened last winter, Cabinet got together, there was a response to that and you can see that response in this year’s budget.

As things continue to move forward in the Sahtu, government will need to respond, whether it’s through Education, Health and Social Services or ITI. Government will have to react and respond to what is happening there. We certainly look forward to things...