David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the Member’s concerns, and I also appreciate his passion about hydro and the development of hydro not only in the Sahtu but in the territory. That’s important.

With respect to the situation on the Bear, we have had money in the past to look at various hydro solutions for that river with the community of Deline and we’ve yet to establish a feasible solution on that river. I recently had the opportunity to meet with the president of the land corp, new Chief Kenny, and we had a very good meeting and they explained to us a new approach to hydro development on...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the Member’s comments and they’re duly noted. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The increase there would be because of the advancement of the Mineral Development Strategy.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, in the last government the Minister of ITI did serve as the chair. In this government the Premier will serve as the chair of the MECC in his role as Minister responsible for new energy initiatives. The Minister of Transportation will also sit on the committee as infrastructure is affected by climate change. The Department of ITI energy planning division will continue to provide support to the committee and coordinate government-wide energy initiatives. That’s the way that we have it set up. All Ministers that are involved in MECC are working to help coordinate our...

The Northwest Territories Film Commission has drafted a mandate that is supported by both ITI and ECE and I’d be more than happy to share that mandate with the Member. Also, as we go forward, I agree with the Member, if a strategic framework or strategy is required that is something we will need to consider.

We certainly need to keep an eye on what other jurisdictions are doing, such as the Yukon. Going forward, we need to look at ways we can be competitive, and I agree with the Member, it’s a competitive environment out there. We need to have services, rebate programs and incentives for the film industry to come here to film so that people who live in the Northwest Territories can get the jobs and the experience that filming will give them here in the Northwest Territories. We are looking at every opportunity.

Again, I know in that industry things are fickle and we will continue to put our best...

That will be answered when the access road gets into the capital planning of the Government of the Northwest Territories and identify $19.5 million to see the construction of that access road. Thank you.

Thank you. I haven’t had a meeting with my federal counterpart, Minister Lebel, in some time. I look forward to getting together with him again in the near future, and I believe the department has had discussions with Transport Canada on this issue and I’d be more than happy to go back to the department and get the level of connectivity they’ve had with Transport Canada on this issue for the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for the question. We don’t have responsibility for dredging. What we do look forward to doing this summer is organizing with NTCL, the Canadian Coast Guard, and I believe Midnight Petroleum is also involved in the little bit of work that is going to be conducted in Hay River this coming summer. But, certainly, the port of Hay River hasn’t had a full-fledged dredging program since 1994, and a lot of sediment and silt can certainly build up in that port over almost a 20-year period. It’s of great concern to the department. We continue to raise the issue...

Certainly there would be other markets out there, but today those fish are being marketed by FFMC. The Member is correct; 90 percent of the fish being marketed by that organization today come from Manitoba. Northern Ontario and Saskatchewan just recently pulled out in April. There are going to need to be some decisions made here as we go forward to help support and market fish that are caught commercially here in the Northwest Territories.