Wally Schumann

This is something that is very near and dear to my heart, as I am from Hay River and it's very important to the local industry of Hay River and the Northwest Territories. I can reassure the Member that I will be working very closely with the Tlicho business and the Fishing Federation and all people and fishers of the Northwest Territories on how we're going to move this process forward to make sure we bring a viable industry that is beneficial to all Northerners and to reach out to industry and people across the great globe of the world, basically, to see what kind of fresh fish we have here...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I've already stated, that we've met with a number of user groups on this whole issue and the department has already suggested, with the city and Ecology North and other people that are related to this issue, is that we would like to have a meeting moving forward on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I've said, we've worked closely with various groups on this. The developers actually paid for the improvements that were made on this section of highway this year, as it become on him that he would pay for this. We will continue to work with the City of Yellowknife and all user groups. That's the best way forward with this.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I'm not well-versed on the whole thing around this, I'll have to take this question as notice. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As a government, we are always looking at trying to find a way to make things more better, more effective, more resilient. I believe that we are. On an annual basis, we probably look at BIP and procurement on a regular basis. Back to his question about making more money available to small businesses and communities, with raising the procurement level to $25,000, that is, I believe, has offered the smaller communities a little better chance to participate in the economy and be able to bid and supply stuff to the Government of the Northwest Territories, so that is one thing I believe that is...

As the Member alluded to, yes, the capital markets are tight and the commodities are low, so that puts a lot of pressure on the economy of the Northwest Territories with little development in the mining sector. As the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, we have a number of programs that are here that are available to young entrepreneurs, old entrepreneurs, to move the economy forward, and we continue to invest in them. We have the SEED program and a number of other opportunities where they can access capital via the Metis Development Fund, or the Community Futures, or ITI or even...

This information already has been shared with Health and Social Services, and I believe it was also shared with the Member of the 17th Assembly, and I will make sure that any information that was shared previously gets to the Member of this Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It was during the phase one process of the Health Authority's new building in Fort Simpson. On the location of the lot, there was ground penetrating radar done, and there were graves discovered on this property. With ongoing consultation with the municipality and the Band of Fort Simpson, the planning process was moving forward and with ongoing discussions with them we're figuring out what's the best way forward with putting the fence in and what we're going to do with the grave sites moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. ITI continues to advance initiatives and investments in supporting the NWT film sector. As of recently, they just had a gala year with their new release of the Midnight Sun feature, which I suspect a number of Members in the Assembly have attended, hopefully. I was out of town so I couldn't make it, but kudos go out to them on that. We will continue to work with them on any initiatives and marketing stuff forward to help this industry grow in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This would be something that we'd have to take up with the City of Yellowknife, as signage is not all the responsibility of all of the Northwest Territories. If the city would like to have a meeting for signage for the Tourist and Information Centre, we can work closely with them and arrange to have something put in place.