David Ramsay

Thank you, Madam Chair, Mr. Chair. I’m going to go to Deputy Minister Vician for a response to that question.

Thank you. In addition to the $25,000 that we have earmarked for the Great Northern Arts Festival, our staff, on a regional basis obviously, help with in-kind support to the festival, and have for a number of years, and will continue to provide that assistance to the arts festival in Inuvik. Thank you.

We currently have four of those positions in the Northwest Territories in four different communities across the NWT, but no, they’re there to observe and monitor and act as a liaison with the RCMP and report activity to the RCMP and monitor the situation as it happens. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Any of those marketing efforts and dollars spent would have to be done in close conjunction with the manufacturer to ensure we are maximizing the exposure, the brand and getting that brand the premium it deserves as mined, cut and polished Northwest Territories diamonds. This also includes the Polar Bear, as well, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To my left is Peter Vician, the deputy minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. To my right is Ms. Nancy Magrum, director of shared services, finance and administration. Thank you.

Yes, getting back to the review on effectiveness and efficiency, the answer to the Member’s question is yes. As we move this forward, I look forward to the input of Regular Members on where we go from here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We take every opportunity to sit down with industry and just recently we had the opportunity. I know, through the budget address, we’re looking at increasing the population by 2,000 residents here in the Northwest Territories over the next five years. We’re not going to do that if we don’t have buy-in from the mining companies here in the Northwest Territories that are big employers here. We need to continue that dialogue, and we will continue that dialogue on trying to find a way and a means to attract people to live in the Northwest Territories and be residents here.

I...

Yes, Madam Chair. We can do that and the sooner the better. Effective April 1st, the Government of the Northwest Territories will be the regulator of the oil and gas industry here in the Northwest Territories. We should get that briefing up and running for committee and Members. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We haven’t seen an increase in the fund. It is fully subscribed. There are obviously, as the Member makes light of, a number of pressures that are currently on folks that want to get out on the land to hunt or to harvest and those pressures are real. The price of gas, I know he talked about some of the issues with climate change, and I understand there are regions in the Northwest Territories where snow came a little bit late this year, so it was difficult for hunters to get out and that’s something that we understand. We haven’t, again, seen an increase to this budget...

Mr. Speaker, in the Northwest Territories, addiction to drugs or alcohol is the number one issue facing many northern inmates. The Department of Justice is taking steps to enhance addictions programs through the corrections service.

Recently this Assembly supported the South Slave Mackenzie Correctional Centre through the hiring of three new staff to develop and deliver an intensive addictions program for inmates. Inmates wishing to participate are accepted into the program based on several factors, including their readiness for change. The first intake for this new program was on October 24...