Wally Schumann

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents entitled "Northwest Territories Community Futures Program 2015-2016 Annual Report," "Business Development and Investment Corporation 2016-2017 Annual Report," and "Follow-Up Letter to Oral Question 887-18(2), Federal Funding for Infrastructure." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will have to have a check with the department on what we can all release here that is public information. I don't think we would have a problem with, you know, we are doing a jurisdictional scan of best practices across the country. That is open to everybody, but I am sure we have it all gathered up. We can share that with all people in the Northwest Territories.

The Mineral Resource Act is one of the most important pieces of legislation, I think, going forward in this Legislative Assembly, as it drives the biggest part of our economy, and we want to make sure we get it right. We have been...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Bauer was hired as a consultant to assist ITI with pre-scoping interviews and benchmarking exercise for the Mineral Resource Act. That was done prior to us coming out with the Mineral Resource Act. Based on what we have heard from public engagement, the department decided to release its report. I think what it does is provide background information to add a more detailed discussion, was the request, and that's why we have put this report out there.

The nice thing about this report is it gives us a critical view of the current situation around the Mineral Resource Act...

I would not say it is historically. This has only been going on for a few years. We work very closely with all the energy companies and the food companies in the region to make sure the supplies are in in a timely manner and updating them on the closure coming this fall year on the ferry services, and we will continue to work closely with industry and the residents in the area on the ferry closure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to get the details on where all the equipment is, I believe it is a new purchase, some of this stuff, and to which communities it will be allocated. I will get that to the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to address the Member's question. He is concerned about consultation and how we are reaching out. As we said, we are going out there. We are going to put out a document on what we have heard. I think we are actually going to do the key elements paper outlining the policy potential changes that could be out there. We are also probably going to go out, I imagine, for a second round of input. There is going to be a lot of time for people to have their say in this. Like I said, we need to get this right, and it is one of the more important ones that we need to...

The only other things that we have going on around the Mineral Resource Act is a comprehensive research on policy, jurisdictional scans, and best practices. That will assist in the development of the Mineral Resource Act moving forward.

The Department of Education has worked with us, as this was an issue around some of their programming. The Department of Health as well, Elections Canada, there are a number of departments that could possibly use the temporary ID for residents in the Northwest Territories to assist with their programs and stuff moving forward. We've been in collaboration with a number of different departments in moving this forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To answer the question, first of all, in the 2018-2019 capital plan we have some money that is in there for a two-year project to replace the secure image management system within the Department of Infrastructure. One of these enhancements that we are going to do is to do a temporary GIC card for residents of the Northwest Territories, update the software, have facial recognition capabilities for security issues, and these sorts of things.

The answer is questionable regarding doing it regionally. Once we have this system in place, and we try to work through it in the next two years with this...

Mr. Speaker, more than 50 years ago Prime Minister John Diefenbaker announced his goal to connect Canada coast to coast to coast.

Today, I am pleased to announce the official opening of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway will be held on November 15, 2017. Canada's first highway to the Arctic Ocean will finally connect the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk to our all-season highway system, while allowing for new economic opportunities, increased tourism, improved accessibility to health care, and a lower cost of living for residents.

The success of this project can only be attributed to the dedicated crews...