David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wouldn’t know the status of the ice crew and what they were doing. I certainly would go back to the department and see if the department knows exactly what those folks are up to.

On the Merv Hardie ferry crew, there were a few employees, or most of the employees were of a casual nature. I believe others were offered employment elsewhere. To the exact status of those employees, I’d certainly be more than happy to get the Member the status of the employees that did serve us, and serve us very well, on both the ice crossing and on the Merv Hardie itself. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I’d have to follow up with the department on exactly what the plan is for the capital dollars for Highway No. 7 for ‘13-14 and get that information for the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve started a program where we’re going to see capital dollars flow into Highway No. 7. It’s going to begin this year. I believe it’s just over $1 million and it’s going to continue for a period of years. I believe it’s 10 years.

Given the pressures on our capital budget – and I don’t have to mention to Members about the pressures on our capital budget around the Northwest Territories – I’ve made commitments to the Member to get a long-term program for Highway No. 7 and that’s what we’re doing. We are getting some money into that highway on an annual basis. I certainly...

Yes, we are looking at that. Again, given what’s happened here this winter with the weather and the traffic, I think we need to be looking at all of that. Certainly, from our perspective, safety of that road and the safety of the travelling public is the number one priority.

Mr. Speaker, this has been an issue that has been brought up before. It’s a serious issue and one that we take seriously. Certainly, I mentioned earlier that we want to work with Members through the Standing Committee on Economic Infrastructure if there is a need to go back and look at all the businesses that are in this Business Incentive Policy and look at areas where we can strengthen this policy.

I tend to agree with the Member; we need to ensure that economic benefits stay here in the Northwest Territories. I know he mentioned a couple of projects, the Inuvik-Tuk highway being one. We need...

We continue to work on the planning activities for the Mackenzie Valley Highway. As I mentioned yesterday in the House, we have got some further funding from CanNor to allow us to continue the work on the environmental assessment process, and other studies and consultations that will be required in advance of a Mackenzie Valley Highway being constructed. Certainly, again, an opportunity to get into the region. I certainly enjoy spending time in the Sahtu and if there are opportunities there to get into to talk to stakeholders in the region, I certainly will take the Member up on his offer.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for the questions. Certainly, MLA Moses is not the first Member to stand up here and ask Ministers of this government whether or not we should be reviewing the Business Incentive Policy. That’s happened a number of times over the 10 years I’ve been here.

Certainly, if the Regular Members feel strongly enough about the Business Incentive Policy and want us to review it again, that is something that we can work through the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure to see something like that happen. Certainly, from our standpoint at...

We have an abundance of fish in the Northwest Territories, and we’ve mentioned many times about the commercial fishing on Great Slave Lake and how we need to improve upon that.

It’s my goal over the next two and a half years to try to resurrect the commercial fishing industry on Great Slave Lake. I think we can do it. We’re going to be working with the folks in Hay River and the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation to see how we can make things better.

Obviously, with Great Bear Lake, I mean, that’s some of the best trout in this world, in Great Bear Lake. If there is an opportunity to get...

In the last sitting of the House, other Members had concerns about wait times at the department of motor vehicles, and we are looking to migrate a lot of those services on-line. We are continuing that work and I think we are going to end up having the majority of services available on-line for residents in the Northwest Territories, which will certainly enhance the service and get people the information they want in more of a timely fashion, and transactions can take place on-line. That’s what we’re trying to work toward.

Certainly, we’ve made some major improvements already and we continue to...

I think issues like the Member raises are going to be front and centre through the development of our Economic Opportunities Strategy and again look forward to seeing the end result of that. Getting products that are local into local businesses and homes, I think, is very important. I have not seen a proposal about bottling water here in the Northwest Territories for local consumption and perhaps for export, but it’s certainly something I think has some promise, and if the Member wants to share that proposal with me, I would be more than happy to have a look at it.