David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Travelling with me on the diamond and pipeline tour we had the deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure. As to the Member’s belief that we negotiated this in secrecy and we didn’t let anybody know, on numerous occasions as I appeared before the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure, when asked about the secondary diamond industry and what we were doing, I made it very clear that we were seeking investment.

When it comes to proprietary and confidential trade agreements with companies, that is something that...

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform Members and the public that the Deh Cho Bridge will officially open on November 30th.

---Applause

The bridge represents a tremendous improvement in the level of service over the current ferry and ice crossing and will increase economic development in our territory both now and for the foreseeable future.

For the first time since the road to the North Slave region was built, people will not have to concern themselves with ferry schedules, ice conditions, or disruptions to operations when crossing the Mackenzie River at Fort Providence. The bridge will provide...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents, entitled 2012-2012 Grants and Contributions Results Report and Government of the Northwest Territories Contracts over $5,000 Report Year to Date of the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2012. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following three documents, entitled NWT Business Development and Investment Corporation Annual Report, 2011-2012; BDIC NWT 2012-2013 Corporate Plan; and GNWT Support to the NWT Film and Media Arts Industry Progress Report. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 5 on the Order Paper.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, when you have 3,000 migrant workers working in the Northwest Territories and people in small communities aren’t being employed, you have to start asking some questions. I’m glad the Member brought that issue up today, because I really do believe that we need to get more people working. If you get a training program where there are 24 individuals from a community and 12 of them fail a drug test, that certainly is an issue and it’s something that we have to pay attention to.

Training programs that are being put together, and I look at what is happening in the...

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to update Members on the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway project.

This important project is included in our 17th Assembly Caucus priorities, the federal engagement strategy, and in every strategic planning document prepared by the department since it was formed in 1989. It has remained a priority through past governments, with a supporting motion passed in the last Assembly. This is the first step in the development of the all-weather Mackenzie Valley Highway from Wrigley to Tuktoyaktuk. We plan to take that first step during the life of the 17th Assembly.

Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a pleasure to recognize my son Malachi Ramsay in the audience. It’s his birthday coming up on Wednesday and he’s going to be turning five years old, so I’d like to welcome Malachi. His little brother, Elijah, is with him, but I believe he just had to use the facilities and he’ll be back shortly. I’d also like to recognize my new executive assistant, Mr. Ryan Strain, as well.

We haven’t quantified what that impact would be on the economy. At the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment we wouldn’t have programs like that. As I mentioned in my previous response, our goal is to work with other departments, with Health and Social Services, with Education, Culture and Employment to find a way to get those types of training programs out there. This department is not responsible for that type of training. But we do certainly work with industry. We recognize that it is a problem. Industry has brought that to our attention. Again, it’s not just mining and oil and gas...

Mr. Speaker, the film and media arts industry makes a positive economic and cultural impact on our territory. It provides employment and learning opportunities for our residents, provides a venue for our talented filmmakers to showcase their work, and draws outside production companies to the Northwest Territories to create memorable films that use our rugged landscape as a backdrop. Today I am pleased to share with you the results of the progress report on the film and media arts industry that I am tabling later in the House today.

The departments of Industry, Tourism and Investment and...