David Ramsay

Thank you, Madam Chair. It isn’t costing the Department of Transportation anything. That’s work performed on behalf of others. That is charged back to the air carriers. Perhaps the definition may have been a little bit confusing and we can work to get a better definition on what exactly that whole baggage system entails. It is work that’s done and paid for from air carriers using that service.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak about the Department of Transportation’s efforts to adapt to climate change.

Wherever you look in the Northwest Territories, you will see impacts of climate change on the transportation system. The Dempster Highway is settling more as permafrost thaws. We are getting more freezing rain in the South Slave, so we need to put more sand and gravel on our highways. The opening of the Tlicho winter road has been delayed due to warmer weather. More flights have been cancelled in Inuvik due to frost buildup and the loss of friction on the runway. Airlines...

Thank you, Madam Chair. To my right I have Mr. Russell Neudorf, deputy minister of Department of Transportation. To my left, Mr. Daniel Auger, assistant deputy minister of Department of Transportation.

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.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The fishery on Great Slave Lake is primarily an export fishery where the prices and the majority of costs are determined according to global markets and circumstance. Certainly with the advance of the Canadian dollar and the global economic downturn in 2009, we’ve seen a decline in fish sales to the U.S., which is predominantly, I believe, 60 percent of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation’s audience or market, is in the United States. It makes up 60 percent. The FFMC has seen a 30 percent reduction in sales since 2009, so those are issues that are outside of our...