David Ramsay

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories recognizes that our future prosperity is heavily dependent on the responsible development of our abundant natural resources. On April 1, 2014, our government will be assuming new responsibilities for the administration of public lands, resources and rights in respect of waters. This means changes for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, which will now administer mineral exploration and development activities and regulate onshore petroleum activities in the Northwest Territories, except in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.

H...

Again, it’s very important that we keep the stories alive and we keep the culture alive, and that’s only going to be done if we preserve that and get it done one way or another. I know there are maybe opportunities through the school curriculum, maybe, to have that story told over and over again and become, eventually, part of a school curriculum.

Again, I made a commitment to speak to the Minister of ECE. I will do that and get back to the Member.

Thank you. I think what the Member is getting at could be incorporated, and will be incorporated, in our Aboriginal Tourism Strategy. I mentioned this yesterday in the House. It is something that a lot of other jurisdictions across the country are watching as it unfolds.

We want to increase awareness and support for Aboriginal tourism amongst Aboriginal communities. We want to improve skills for Aboriginal businesses involved in the Aboriginal tourism industry. What the Member is talking about fits perfectly into this type of strategy because when people come here to visit the Northwest...

We are going to have a made-in-the-North solution to this as we move forward. Again, it’s important that we put our best effort into getting a situation here where it’s going to see us have as seamless a transition as possible. We are continuing to work with the National Energy Board. Come April 1st we’re going to inherit the regulations and policies of the National Energy Board. We’re going to inherit the federal acts that regulate the industry here in the Northwest Territories. After April 1st, if it’s deemed necessary, we can amend some of that legislation, we can enact policies. The world...

Our goal and objective is to grow the capacity to regulate the oil and gas industry here in the Northwest Territories by residents of the Northwest Territories. We do not have the capacity. That’s why we’re reaching out to both the National Energy Board and the Alberta Energy Regulator and we’re also looking at the possibility of some work with the BC Oil and Gas Commission as well. We need to bring that expertise to bear come April 1st and we are setting the wheels in motion to allow us to do that.

I take some issue with the Member’s concerns about the regulator in Alberta. They do have 75...

Yes, we could take a look at that, and I can let the Member know that we will take that into consideration and get him some type of response.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We wanted to put the petroleum division in Inuvik. There are nine positions associated with that office being put into the community of Inuvik. We had to also look at the petroleum planning office, Mackenzie Valley petroleum planning office in Hay River and ensure that those six positions stayed in Hay River. The main thing was ensuring those positions stayed in Hay River. It also gave us an opportunity to put nine positions into Inuvik. Of course, we’re very optimistic about the future of the offshore and the development in the Beaufort-Delta. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Through our work on the Economic Opportunities Strategy it was clearly identified that we always get requests for smaller capital items in the smaller communities, and our belief is that tourism does have a great deal of potential in a number of our smaller communities. This money was identified through our work on the EOS. It’s appropriated this year. We’re planning on appropriating the same amount next year and then evaluating the success of the dollars that we put forward in this area. We’re thinking that having this money available is going to fill that gap...

There is a lot that’s not supposed to be shared. It’s something that we’d have to be cognizant of the fact that the federal government is negotiating the agreement with the European Union. There are some things we can share with Members, and we’d be more than happy to share what we can with Members and we’ll take things from there.

Thank you, Madam Chair. To my left I’ve got Mr. Peter Vician, deputy minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. To my right, Ms. Nancy Magrum, director, shared services, finance and administration. Thank you.