Thank you, Mr. Speaker: My question today is to the Minister of ITI and as my Member’s statement indicated, one of the factors in poverty is job creation and I’m just wondering what ITI has in the future for job creation in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Minister of ITI, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Members got together after the election and set a course for the next four years through a priority setting exercise. Obviously, through that exercise the economy ranked very high. I think getting jobs and opportunities for people should be a primary focus of this government. That focus should be on the smaller communities where there are high levels of unemployment. Those types of jobs for folks in the small communities and the regional centres are going to be arrived at through development of one form or another, investment in infrastructure, mining and resource development. That’s where I see the future job opportunities for people that live in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
That’s great to hear. The other question I had is: Does the department have any plans to increase any small business creation to create those jobs as well?
That’s an area that the last government spent a great deal of time on. There was some additional funding put into the SEED Program and that’s something, as we move forward and work through the business plan for the upcoming year and the next four years, is a discussion that we will have to have with committee and Regular Members of this House to determine how that should happen. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
