Robert Bouchard

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Bill 6, An Act to Amend the Medical Care Act; and Tabled Document 22-17(5), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2014-2015, and would like to report progress and that Bill 6 is ready for third reading. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question is about the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation and our work with them to do this marketing.

How much involvement has the Minister had with the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation? Have we looked at that opportunity? Have we looked if that is a need? Do we really need them still? I know that’s been debated in the fishery quite a bit, but what is the department doing with the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation?

My next question for the Minister is about that marketing that he discussed. I know he’s talking about domestic marketing. I’m also concerned about marketing this product outside of the Northwest Territories.

Along with that marketing and pricing, what is the department doing to bring up the prices for the fishers to basically create an income and get paid for their good product?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, as I was able to enjoy some dry fish from the Beaufort-Delta area, I came up with a Member’s statement here.

I know that in the Northwest Territories we value these northern fish. Whether we fry it, bake it, barbeque it, smoke it, or even enjoy it dried, it’s an important asset to the Northwest Territories.

In the Hay River area, in the Great Slave area, we catch it, a lot of it. One million pounds last year, the Minister was able to announce last November. One million.

Our fishers are working hard out there in this industry. They have increased the production...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It’s been a few months since we’ve been here now, and learning this budget process is interesting because there are certain things in the budget I like and certain things that I don’t like. Ms. Bisaro did point to a lot of those issues, those concerns, so instead of talking about it all, I’m going to focus on just one area that I have a concern with.

I have a concern with the amount of money we are putting into the Heritage Fund. The Minister has put together a budget of 5 percent, which I don’t understand where that number comes from. That’s the minimum that we’ve heard...

I know the department went throughout the Northwest Territories on their new Economic Opportunities Strategy and the fishery was one of the things that came forward from there.

What monies are they putting into this Economic Opportunities Strategy to help the fishers in this industry?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement about the fishery in the Great Slave Lake, and my colleague from the Deh Cho reminded me that they also boil that fish and it’s delicious that way as well. I have a question to the Minister of ITI about the current activities that they are doing with the fishery.

What are those monies that the Minister and the budget addressed the other day, what are the monies going towards to increase the production of the fishery in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I do realize we are going to be having this discussion because I think on this side we are determined that that 25 percent is something we need to see for the future generations of this Northwest Territories. These resources are being taken out of the Northwest Territories and won’t be available for the future generations.

The 25 percent, Madam Speaker, is what we’re debating. They’ve indicated that we won’t get the money until 2015-2016, yet we are going ahead basing capital budgets on that money.

Can the Minister explain to me how we are doing that if we don’t have that money yet? Are we...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I was just going to bask in the green glory here, but I do think I need to follow up with some questions that my colleague MLA Bisaro brought up to the Minister of Finance about the Heritage Fund and budget issues.

My question to the Minister of Finance is: He indicated that if Members on this side want to put 25 percent into the Heritage Fund that we’re going to have to find that money. I’m just wondering why the Minister of Finance feels we need to find that money. This heritage resource revenue sharing money is brand new this year. Why are we finding money that is...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s definitely a Green Day. Thanks to all the Members for wearing green today. This morning I’d asked Members of this House and residents of the Northwest Territories to join me in an Olympic send-off to Hay River biathlete Brendan Green.

Brendan is in Sochi, representing Canada in his second Winter Olympic Games. Born and raised in Hay River, Brendan started skiing at the age of three and became a biathlete at six. He long dreamed of becoming an Olympian at a young age and set out to achieve this goal. He competed at the Hay River track meet on a regular basis and...