Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last couple of weeks I and a few of my colleagues have raised concerns about the current public consultation process that has taken place between November 24, 2010, and January 31, 2011, on the new NWT Wildlife Act. Although the Minister continues to suggest that all due process has taken place and that the public consultation process has been conducted appropriately, many throughout the Northwest Territories remain concerned. Mr. Speaker, I’m one of them.

Mr. Speaker, the public consultation process on the proposed Wildlife Act began on November 24th when the...

Thank you Minister McLeod. Time is up and we are on page 12-21, Industry, Tourism and Investment. Mr. Bromley.

Thanks to the Minister for that. Obviously, as per its name, Hay River is a transportation hub and that river has access to the lake and, therefore, access to the Mackenzie River is critical as far as transportation links go in the Northwest Territories. I’m happy to hear that the Minister is attempting to do something in this area and I encourage him to keep doing so. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Krutko? No? Alright. Next on my list is Mr. Bromley.

Can I go back to 11-25, Mr. Chair?

Obviously, thanks to the Minister for that. I think anything we can do to be more small business friendly, the better off we’re going to be. Especially in the small communities. Like I said in my opening comments, I really appreciate the addition of some EDOs in the communities like Ulukhaktok. I think those officers will be able to help people through the paperwork. At the same time, thank you for the stuff you’re doing trying to reduce red tape. I think there’s an opportunity for you as the Minister of ITI to go to the Executive and suggest that maybe it’s time we engaged the Program Review...

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Next on my list is Mr. Krutko.

Thank you and thanks to the Minister for that. I remember the discussions about the Tlicho and I’m happy to see that they’re back at the table and that progress is being made in that area. I think those realignments will ultimately help reduce the cost of living in those communities, which is a priority of this government. So thank you for that and please keep going.

The second part of the question, which I didn’t hear a response to, was winter road realignment up to the North Slave Geological Province. In 2006 we lost the winter roads early, which resulted in significant costs to the mines...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Two questions. I think the Minister has already answered one. In his opening comments he talked about an increase in SEED of $350,000 and he mentioned that $150,000 of it, I think, was for arts and crafts. I asked a question about arts, wondering if that was available to performing arts. In your response to us you said, no, it’s for artisans not performers. But then later you said that we do have musicians and other performing artists accessing SEED. The program is available to performing artists who meet the criteria, they can still access SEED, it doesn’t actually...

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Next on my list is Ms. Bisaro.