Statements in Debates
As I have said, I think we can agree to disagree. REDI is about a public information initiative to bring a whole government approach to all the things that relate to resource development. It is not about promoting resource development. It is about informing the general public of what concerns they can have, and have one-on-one conversations with geologists, land inspectors, water inspectors, regulators, regulatory bodies, and that is what the initiative is, to help inform the public. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The short answer is, no. The government is going to be carrying out our Petroleum and Resource Act on oil and gas operations in the very near future. This is going to give residents of the Northwest Territories an opportunity to discuss what level of transparency they want to see in hydraulic fracturing. We will bring that forward at the time. There will probably be a number of questions around hydraulic fracturing, I believe, when we go out with this, as it was a big subject on the last Assembly. They are going to know what kind of fluids are used, or additives, and these sort of things, and...
Mr. Speaker, I could speak to this directly as I was a manufacturer before I got elected. It’s not always about money. It’s about the process, about getting information out there of what’s directly available to the government of Northwest Territories in particular, about the round of procurement issues. There are these types of challenges. I personally do not think it’s about putting money towards a strategy or off-setting a cost. There’s already a 30 per cent allotment to manufacturers for their product to be in the Northwest Territories and we built here. These are conversations that we are...
Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is nearing the successful completion of its first season delivering Marine Transportation Services to communities on the Mackenzie River and Arctic coast. The delivery of essential goods by tug and barge to our communities on Great Slave Lake, the Mackenzie River, and the Arctic coast sustains the vital services that our communities rely upon. Since early July when the first tug and barge tow of the season departed Hay River, GNWT Marine Transportation Services has successfully delivered all of the critical petroleum products and deck...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The manufacturing strategy, the department has recently sat down and met with all of the manufacturers in the North Slave and the South Slave and had a discussion on how we’re going to move forward. I believe we are in the process of allocating some money towards some sit-down conversations that we’re going to have with the manufacturing group and the Northwest Territories can come up with a plan forward on the strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I am not aware of the legislation Ontario is proposing to move forward, but if the Member wants to share that with me, I’m glad to have a look at it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve been on record. I’ve told the Member a number of times in this House, no, I will not review the procurement nature of the department. We’re all working on the mandate of this Legislative Assembly. A number of initiatives fall under my departments, which are directly related to economic development in the Northwest Territories. We’re pushing on those mandate items and we will continue to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Just so Members know, on this particular regulation change, this is under the authority of Transport Canada with the federal government; so there is no direct role for the Government of Northwest Territories or myself or the department. Nevertheless, with that said, we know there are a lot of concerns with this going forward around flight times, flight duty times, rest periods, and travel times, of that type of nature.
We expect that the proposed regulations, if they were to go forward the way they are presented, would have a serious impact on residents of the Northwest Territories and its...
At the appropriate time, we will be bringing forward the business plan for the past sailing season, the lessons learned. Once the sailing season is totally concluded and wrapped up, we will be able to bring that information forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have addressed environmental issues in the short time that we have had this. Moving forward, we have identified and secured a number of habits that are just waste on our property, particularly in Hay River, and we are in the process of moving that from the shipyard. We are developing a plan to get rid of the scrap metal in the coming years. As many people know, the amount of derelict ships and boats that are in the Hay River shipyard that will have to be cut up, and removed, and abated. We are also in the process of doing our environment assessments on all our...