Wally Schumann

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories made a commitment in its mandate to support mineral exploration and the mining sector by implementing the Mineral Development Strategy.

I rise today to update my colleagues on our progress. Mr. Speaker, the Mineral Development Strategy has five pillars: creating a competitive edge; establishing a new regulatory environment; enhancing Aboriginal engagement and capacity; promoting sustainability; and enriching workforce development and public awareness.

In our work to create a competitive edge for mining in the NWT, we have placed incentives...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department hasn't taken a determination on this point yet. We are looking out for ideas and stuff. We are currently looking at other jurisdictions, as I have said, across Canada before we roll this out. We will probably be conducting a review and undertaking an analysis on a royalty regime across Canada.

The department is actually conducting research right now on how we are going to move forward. I don't think anything is locked down because we are going to have to go through consultation, public engagement. We are going to have to go in front of standing committee. There are a number of things that we are going to have to do that are going to guide this document as we move forward. We are welcome to any suggestions.

The department regularly evaluates the condition of the. We have our maintenance crews that travel up and down the highway daily to gather information daily. They give us feedback on that. We have, as I said, our test sections that are out there, but to get out for safety is the number one priority of the transportation system in the Northwest Territories. We use a number of initiatives to reach out to people in the Northwest Territories and people visiting NWT, as I think and believe the Member talked yesterday in the House about how we’re going to get our message out there, be it Twitter...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe I answered this question. We took the opportunity when we were out doing consultation. The responsibility of section 35 is the federal government’s, as to do with the Great Slave Lake, to consult with Aboriginal governments and peoples. We went through the Great Slave Lake Advisory Committee, which has all the users around the lake, which includes, as I said, all the Aboriginal governments that use the lake. We used the opening for that advisory board to do our consultation.

Depending on if there was an economic opportunity strategy or the fishing strategy, there would have been various departments, and they would have been senior officials.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I will commit to doing that and having a look at that and informing the House on that moving forward.

The joint venture is directly responsible for the contractors that are employed under them that are running up and down the highway. As far as our Department of Transportation, when a vehicle is registered in the Northwest Territories and it goes through its annual inspections and stuff, that is a whole different issue. This issue of the incidents that have taken place over the last few weeks on the road system between Yellowknife and the diamond mines is the joint venture's. We are working closely with them. We have a great relationship with them. As I have said, they are talking to the...

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Infrastructure is committed to working in partnership with Canada to make strategic investments in highway infrastructure. Today, I am pleased to provide an update on our efforts to secure funding for various highway projects across the territory.

In 2015, the Government of the Northwest Territories received federal approval for its first bundle of highway capacity improvement projects submitted under the New Building Canada Plan. The bundle was cost-shared with the federal government, who provided $72 million, or 75 per cent, while the Government of the Northwest...

As we move forward, yes, there is some money there for implementation. For some of the new positions, I believe, that are created in the new region of the Sahtu, we will be looking out to fulfilling that.