Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Finance. I appreciate that the subject of a knowledge-based economy is a multi-department initiative, but I understand that the Minister is taking the lead.
I spoke earlier about a couple of examples; a young woman developing an app to promote education as it relates to her traditional language. I talked about the opportunity of a young man becoming an architect and having an impact on housing that supports Indigenous lifestyles. These are all things relevant to the knowledge-based economy. Mr. Speaker, if I can, I would like to ask the Minister if he can provide the House with an update on what the GNWT is doing to develop and promote the knowledge-based economy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have committed in our renewed mandate to developing a knowledge economy.
First of all, we are going to focus on advancing access to knowledge in our agricultural sector, expanding our geoscience information and implementation of the NTGS Strategic Plan, and advancing public understanding of resource development in the NWT.
The examples that the Member gave, I think, are very good examples of an initiative going forward that would work to our knowledge-based economy, and as we've heard a number of times in the past talking about with the benefits of the fibre-optic line and possibly doing a knowledge-based up in Beau-Del, I think there are some opportunities there. There are a number of issues that we are looking at, and we do recognize that going forward, it is very important that we cultivate our knowledge base to take advantage of the options that might be out there.
Thank you to the Minister for the reply, and the extensive reply. I really appreciate that. He did touch on reaching out as it related to opportunities that might be had with regard to certain industries. I talked earlier today about the challenges that we're facing with regard to climate change that are affecting us on our doorstep here, day in and day out. I also talked about mining resource extraction and challenges that they faced in protecting the environment. I also talked about the agriculture sector in the innovation and how it's affecting it. I'm wondering: can the Minister let us know if he's been reaching out as a government to those industries and to those sectors, asking them what their challenges and how innovation and technology might help them overcome those challenges?
We're always reaching out to folks out there to get their input on how they're affected by a number of different issues that are facing the Northwest Territories, such as climate change. We actually don't even have to reach out to them. They reach out to us and point out some of the challenges that they're facing, too. I think it's critically important that we continue to work with them, hear what they talk about, the challenges that they face, and then we'll have a discussion with them on some of our options and some of the things we're working on going forward, because it is a critical issue and I think now is the time to start trying to deal with the impacts of climate change and everything else on business and people across the Northwest Territories.
My final question to the Minister -- and I appreciate the previous reply. It's really good to hear that we're reaching out to industry and others to help them overcome their challenges. Let's talk a little bit more specifically about the communities. The couple of examples that I gave showed tremendous opportunity as it relates to innovation and technology and what they can bring to the communities. I'd like to know from the Minister: what is the government doing, or what can we be doing, to actually promote knowledge-based economy a little bit stronger in the communities?
Conversations such as the one we're having right now are one way to promote knowledge-based economy and to let people out there know that there are pots of money within the territorial government to come up with some initiatives like the ones the Member spoke of. I'm sure they received some assistance of some sort from the Government of Northwest Territories. Then recognizing that, going forward, anyone can put a proposal together and submit it to the Government of Northwest Territories. When we speak of the successes of some of the proposals and initiatives that have come forward, I'm sure more people will be encouraged to put initiatives forward or to think there might be an opportunity to receive some funding, because I think it is an issue that is important to the government and to all 19 Members of the Legislative Assembly. I think it's one that we need to promote and put some investment towards.
Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
