David Ramsay

Mr. Speaker, just waiting for my light to come back on.

I’m not quite sure what the Member is getting at. We have systems in place at the Department of Justice. I can’t speak for the other two departments, but we are not going to be putting the resources and the effort into establishing a Wellness Court here in the Northwest Territories without a way to measure the success of it, measure how it is impacting people that are going through the court system. When we lay this out, those measurements are in place; they certainly will be looked at. All I was mentioning was that the court has only been...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for both his statement and his questions today and his support for the NWT Wellness Court, which rolled out… The first case was heard October 2nd of this year.

The question about resources, so far this year, $305,000, and for next year we’re looking at $970,000. That’s in ‘15-16 and ongoing. We aren’t going to be successful with the Wellness Court unless we are continuing to work with our colleagues at Health and Social Services and Education, Culture and Employment on the rollout of the Wellness Court and getting the people the help that they need...

I believe we’ve made a commitment to the Member to have a look at that, and it is certainly something we will be doing. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, that is part of the role and the function of the Convention Bureau, is to identify lodges or places that could host meetings and conventions, and I would give the Sandy Creek Lodge a ringing endorsement. I know we’ve had meetings there ourselves and it certainly is a very nice facility and a facility that could host a meeting of a substantial size on the Hay River Reserve. It’s something I am sure the Convention Bureau is aware of, but if they are not aware of it yet, they will be after today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This was part of our Economic Opportunities Strategy. Stemming from that, it’s an office that is set up in the Northwest Territories Tourism Marketing Destination Market Agency here in the Northwest Territories. Its goal and purpose is to attract people and meetings to the Northwest Territories, and I understand they have had some early success in trying to attract meetings and conventions here to the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank the Member for his comments and just a brief comment back if I could. Some of the best trappers in the Northwest Territories come from the Member’s region, and Colville Lake is a highly regarded trapping area in the Northwest Territories, so we’re happy to continue to support trapping in the Member’s riding and in the territory. When we design programs, we do go in and do an analysis of what it is and what things cost and how we can best help trappers get out on the land pursuing their trade. I don’t have that information with me right now, but I’d...

I know business people around the Northwest Territories are very smart when it comes to trying to make ends meet and survive what is a bit of a downturn. We’re not going to see the millions and millions of dollars being spent in the Sahtu as we’ve seen in previous seasons gone past. That is taking a bit of a hiatus here, so we are going to need folks to ensure that they’re looking after that bottom line, they’re ensuring that they are going to be able to survive until the activity comes back, and it’s just not going to be the extent that it was last winter. Good businesses and good business...

Yes, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe there is a conference that is being planned or coordinated in the region, and that’s something that we look forward to certainly supporting. The department does have a number of business supports in place for businesses not only in the Sahtu but around the territory. With the decline in activity in the area this coming winter, things are going to be difficult for some businesses; we understand that. We want to try to continue to work with businesses in the Sahtu to ensure that they have the support necessary to see themselves through what could be a difficult...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To my right is Sylvia Haener, deputy minister, Department of Justice; and to my left is Ms. Kim Schofield, director of finance, Department of Justice.