David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The mining, oil and gas sectors are literally in the bedrock of the Northwest Territories economy. These industries rely on modern, accessible geoscience information to make investment and land use decisions. The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment partners with the federal department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development to deliver geoscience programs for the Northwest Territories.

This partnership – known as the Northwest Territories Geoscience Office or NTGO – provides industry, government, Aboriginal organizations and many other stakeholders with...

That’s an area that the last government spent a great deal of time on. There was some additional funding put into the SEED Program and that’s something, as we move forward and work through the business plan for the upcoming year and the next four years, is a discussion that we will have to have with committee and Regular Members of this House to determine how that should happen. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure to recognize a few visitors in the gallery today. I’d like to first recognize Mr. Tom Hoefer, the executive director of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines. Mr. John Ketchum, who is the GNWT manager at the Northwest Territories Geoscience Office. Both men were instrumental in the Geoscience Forum that was recently held and I thank them for that. Also with them this afternoon is Mr. Christian Bertelsen. He’s the acting director of minerals and petroleum with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. I’d also like to welcome this afternoon our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “NWT Business Development and Investment Corporation 2010-2011 Annual Report.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, please, Mr. Chairman.

My intention and the department’s intention is to get the information out to the public in due course. Once that work is complete, you can rest assured that it will be available to Members and to the public. I think this project has been followed closely by the public and the information should get out there. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the Member’s concern over the $850,000 for the MVIS replacement. It is a very specialized piece of computer system that you just don’t buy off the shelf. Members will recall other programs, the FIS replacement, other larger-scale government software fixes, and IT infrastructure is very expensive. We’re trying to accomplish the MVIS replacement over two years. It’s $850,000 a year. What I can do today is make a commitment to the Member to get a thorough breakdown of that $1.7 million, and we’ll get the projected contract cost and that information that the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member would be privy to that information as it’s coming up later on in today’s proceedings.

Again, as we continue to move forward, obviously discussions with the federal government are of great importance to us. We thank them for the commitment, the $150 million commitment to the Tuk-Inuvik Highway Project, but we certainly have to come up with what’s next, find a way forward.

We’ve got the next steps with the Mackenzie Valley Highway and I think that’s a project where there’s a great deal of interest in a project like that in Ottawa with the federal government for building the North, this territory, sovereignty and development. There’s a number of issues there that the federal...

Certainly we will take the Member’s concerns seriously. Right now the regulatory process is not in the hands of the Government of the Northwest Territories; it rests with another body. After we conclude negotiations on devolution, responsibility for managing our lands, waters and resources will rest with the Government of the Northwest Territories, at which time we can take every step to ensure that we know what is happening there. I will certainly get back to the Member as to the current disposition of the episode that he is concerned with in Cameron Hills. Thank you.