David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll go back to the department and get a response for the Member as soon as possible. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve got a great team down in the Deh Cho in the Nahendeh riding, as the Member is aware, in Fort Simpson and other communities in the riding. We’d certainly be able to coordinate efforts with communities, with tourism operators in the area to make them aware of opportunities and drum up any potential sponsorships. I think that’s one area where, hopefully, the department would be able to help out in such an endeavour. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow my colleague from the Sahtu in recognizing two chiefs from the Sahtu, Mr. McNeely and Mr. Kenny. Welcome to the House. Also, a former colleague, Mr. David Krutko from the Mackenzie Delta, and a good friend, Mr. Danny Gaudet. Welcome.

In questions, I believe late last week, I gave the Member my commitment to perhaps even drive the winter road into his region into the Sahtu sometime this winter during the life of the ice road. If we can do that, if we can pull it together, I would be more than happy to talk to businesses, residents and stakeholders in the region. As I mentioned late last week, we have to learn lessons from this year’s experiences with the ice road, the amount of traffic that was on that road. If there are ways we can improve things, we need to be looking at that in the interim before there is an all-weather...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the first step is this budget. I think we’ve answered the call with what is happening in the Sahtu with the Canol shale oil play. We’ve addressed the concerns, some of the concerns that are there. The dialogue has to continue with the Member, with the leadership in the Sahtu and also with industry. That dialogue continued even today, as folks from the industry were here in Yellowknife and I met with them this morning, and we will continue to have that dialogue so we ensure that the benefits are maximized for the people that live in the Sahtu and we can see this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Economic Opportunities Strategy focuses on growing the economy here in the Northwest Territories. At the same time, we have a parallel process with the Anti-Poverty Strategy that the government has initiated as well.

Our belief is that we can find a way forward with the economy and focus on economic opportunities in the various regions around the Northwest Territories, and that’s what this strategy is set up to do. Thank you.

I just want to let the Member know, and other Members know, that we haven’t signed off on the royalty rate, we haven’t signed off on land tenure. Those are discussions that continue to be ongoing with the Inuvialuit, and we hope to conclude those discussions and negotiations with them very soon.

We haven’t got a formal funding agreement with the federal government in place yet. At the earliest opportunity – I just signed a letter late last week – we’re going to be in front of the Member’s Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure as soon as possible to give his committee a full briefing on the project and next steps.

Once the Member brings forward the details of the situation, I would certainly be more than happy to talk to whichever department the award would be awarded through and have a discussion about next steps.

I wouldn’t want to hazard a guess, not knowing the particulars in the situation the Member talks about, but if the Member would like to divulge – she doesn’t have to do it here today – the situation, if it is an NGO bidding against a registered BIP business here in the Northwest Territories then the NGO not getting BIP status, there’s a reason, and I mentioned the reason why, the NGO wouldn’t receive BIP status to compete with a registered BIP business here in the Northwest Territories. I’d like to, maybe, get the Member to provide us some further details and we can look into this situation.