David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Member for the question. We have had some success in holding the Mining 101 course. We’ve had a number of these meetings in the Sahtu. Specifically, we’ve been in Fort Good Hope, Deline, Colville Lake, Tulita. We’ve also been to the community of Nahanni Butte and also into Norman Wells. We have to continue to promote mining as a means to economic success here in the Northwest Territories. In the Member’s riding we’ve had some success recently with Selwyn Chihong on the border with the Yukon. We’ve had discussions with those folks recently. That ore...

Mr. Speaker, the NWT is home to a small, but vibrant manufacturing sector. We manufacture a range of products in the Northwest Territories, from signs and steel girders, to roof trusses, windows and fibreglass tanks. As other industrial sectors such as mining, oil and gas, and construction expand, there are opportunities for expansion within the manufacturing sector.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT Economic Opportunities Strategy identified the potential for strengthening the economic viability of the manufacturing industry and increasing opportunities for investment in the NWT. Today I would like to...

I didn’t hear the Member’s question. If he could repeat the question, that would be great.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have some fantastic facilities in the Deh Cho and in the Member’s riding. We continue to support those efforts. I know the campground in Fort Providence was highlighted during last summer’s fire season and the bad fire that we had around Fort Providence and the service that the park provided. We have to continue to support the operators and the infrastructure that we have on the ground in the Member’s riding.

To my recollection, it’s just over $303 per day. That’s to house federal inmates. Our own inmates, the number may be a little bit different, but when we invoice the federal government for housing federal inmates it’s $303.08 a day.

Thank you. It’s quite possible that each of them is in a different scenario, and a care plan would be established for each one of those individuals. So, I could get that level of detail for the Member if he so wishes. Thank you.

Our belief is that, yes, it can be done safely. It can be done, and we’ve seen it done here in the Northwest Territories. I know the Member highlighted other jurisdictions in Canada that have seen great success, Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, in using horizontal fracking. We are moving forward with regulations around hydraulic fracturing and we will have the best regulatory response in Canada when it comes to hydraulic fracturing, because we believe it can be done safely and soundly here in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There have been assessments done of the oil potential in the Sahtu and, in fact, in the Northwest Territories. We continue to move forward with the development of an Oil and Gas Strategy for the Northwest Territories. We are also going to conduct some work on the corridor concept down the Mackenzie Valley, communication, energy, transportation corridor. Of course, we’ve had the Mackenzie Gas Project that currently is on the shelf but our hope is that at some point in time Mackenzie gas will see market and we will get it out of the Beaufort-Delta. We have to look at this...

My ears are a little bit plugged. I’m not feeling the best, but I thank the Member for repeating the question.

We will continue to work with the region through the Fort Simpson office and also in Hay River on opportunities to promote the Deh Cho Connection. I know MLA Mr. Menicoche has talked about this in efforts to support Highway No. 7 and the tourism route that is the Deh Cho Connection. It is a wonderful opportunity for people to not go back the same way and do a loop through the Northwest Territories. It’s important that it is marketed and it is promoted, and through NWT Tourism that...

We have our Aboriginal Tourism Marketing Strategy that would certainly look to support efforts in the Member’s riding. We also have Tourism 2020, a new plan that we’ve come up with that is going to earmark money for tourism around the Northwest Territories. We’ve recently received money from CanNor. We also will be looking for additional federal funding as we move forward. Through the EOS, we’re also able to provide more money for tourism, and I think our overall spend on tourism now is near $10 million per year.