David Ramsay

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, we certainly have protocols in place when it comes to emergencies on our highway system; however, we don’t have those types of protocols when it comes to whether or not air rescue is brought into play. That is an area that we will continue to work on with the other departments that I mentioned earlier – Health and Social Services, MACA, Department of Justice – on enacting some protocols when it comes to air rescue. But for highway rescue, we do have protocols in place. Again, I’d be more than happy to share those protocols with the Members. We will get that to them...

Mr. Speaker, they would just follow the protocols that are in place. If they come across an accident scene, they’re to alert the authorities and monitor things. Again, if the Member wants specifics, I would be more than happy to get him specifics. It is different between a highway patrol officer… We have a number of front-line staff out on our highways. We have highway patrol officers and also equipment operators, so it’s much different. Thank you.

We haven’t done that analysis on those positions, but it’s certainly, as I mentioned earlier, as we move forward we get the deal done with the federal government on Growing Forward 2 and we put more of an emphasis on agriculture, and we’re getting closer to the devolution deal being done, once that’s complete and we take over responsibility of land management here in the Northwest Territories, positions like that may certainly make a lot of sense for us to have. As to a location, I think I said it earlier that Hay River would certainly make a good case for those positions.

Over the past four or five years, we’ve had many more staff working on agricultural initiatives. They’re balancing their workload with other things as well. I would be guessing, but I would say five staff in the area that would deal with this type of work on a day-to-day basis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the concern over what is happening in the Mackenzie Valley. Certainly the developments occurring in the Sahtu region are significant and substantial. The Economic Opportunities Strategy Advisory Panel has held several meetings where the developments occurring in the Sahtu have been raised. I’ve been assured that the panel will be bringing forward a number of recommendations for consideration by this government, which may include a discussion regarding the establishment of a special economic zone.

As industry moves forward to a positive decision to produce...

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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The trip that we envision in April to southeast Saskatchewan and to North Dakota would be to meet with Aboriginal leaders. I would certainly hope to have some Aboriginal leaders from the Sahtu accompany me on that trip so that we can meet with them there to see how Aboriginal people in the Bakken have benefited from development on their land. That is something that we certainly look forward to and I certainly hope the Member can make some time in April to come with us.

Mr. Speaker, as I am aware, our highway patrol officers are equipped with the best in communication equipment, and are able to communicate with other enforcement agencies in the territory and emergency response personnel in the territory.