Wally Schumann

I would like to bring witnesses into the Chamber, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have had community consultation already with the community on this project. We are out for design work right now on moving that forward, and then we will probably be going back to the community for some more consultation once the design is laid out. We are hoping to have the plans ready by December. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Once we pass this capital budget, we will do the procurement process and hopefully have them delivered for April and do the replacement in April, May, June. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I stated in the House when we were talking about this earlier in the week, Department of Infrastructure staff has been meeting with the regulatory boards, including the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, to discuss next steps. Those discussions are ongoing.

We are trying to figure out a way to proceed in terms of the environmental assessment, considering that we don't get funding for the whole road. I have stated in the House that the bridge is a totally separate and permitted issue, so that is outside of the scope of the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Those...

I will gladly sit down with the Member and make sure that the engineering work and the environmental approvals and permits are in place, but it's not Infrastructure's place to fund the completion of this bridge. We're going to have to figure out where we are going to get this money. I know from our bilaterals that we signed that there's a possibility that we can actually use something out of the bilateral around community funding with the Minister of MACA. We might have to have a look at that and what is going forward. We will continue to help support this initiative moving forward. If this...

The arts sector has also surged with a 78 percent growth in artists registered through the Northwest Territories Arts Program. Registered film and media practitioners, in particular, have increased by more than 150 percent. They are contributing to a film industry now worth around $6.7 million, a 38 percent increase spurred in part by an investment plan recommended by the strategy.

The centre of our commercial fishery is also on the upswing. Compared to four years ago, we have issued 27 percent more commercial vessel licenses. Harvests for our fishers are up by 42 percent, and they are...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our intention is that we have to see what the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board has to say first, concerning next steps for us. As I said, the bridge is our priority going forward in the next coming year. We believe that is the number one priority, and we will continue to work with the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, Indigenous governments, and other stakeholders to figure out how we are going to do Mount Gaudet going forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I think the Member offered to buy me supper, so I'm coming. I can make time to meet with the MLA and the community leader after session today. Well, we have a meeting after session, but this evening. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is there are still some outstanding issues with the Willow River Bridge; there is still some engineering work that needs to be completed, environmental approvals and permits that need to be put into place. What I can tell the House is, when the Premier and I were in Inuvik a couple of weeks ago, we took the time to meet with the Mayor and the regional director that we have for the northern region, to sit down and have a conversation about the challenges with getting this bridge completed. We've committed the regional director to sit down with all the...

Mr. Speaker, the sustainability and growth of the NWT economy requires strategic investment and diversification. The mandate we set for our 18th Legislative Assembly highlights the importance of investing in renewable resources, agriculture, arts, fisheries, forestry, manufacturing, tourism, traditional harvesting, and the knowledge economy.

The foundation of much of this work was set out in the 2014 NWT Economic Opportunities Strategy with its goal to establish an environment in which NWT businesses and entrepreneurs can take the lead in identifying, pursuing, and realizing economic...