Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my Member’s statement on the conference that will happening in 2016 in the community of Inuvik and looking at alternative energy sources and what’s happening in today’s world and in Canada, I’d like to ask the Premier of the Northwest Territories, we’re moving into our second Energy Charrette here starting today. Has he had any previous discussions with our leadership in the community of Inuvik and is he looking to any types of investments for this very relevant and timely conference that we’ll be having in 2016, seeing that we have enough time ahead of time to really plan and get a good conference going? Has he had any discussions with our leadership and is there any investments that he’s willing to invest in that conference? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve had no discussions with anybody about this conference, other than the Member e-mailing me a press release advising of this change. I expect that in due course the money, or some portion of the money that we contributed for the oil and gas conference would probably be earmarked for a similar conference in 2016. Thank you.
Thank you. Outside of monetary commitments for investments and looking forward to this conference, I know that the government also seconds GNWT workers for organizations that also do work on behalf of government. By the time 2016 rolls around and this conference comes out, there’s a good chance we’ll have two, maybe even three charrettes by then and we’ll have a lot of GNWT employees who have a really good grasp of some of these areas in terms of alternative energy, where we’re going to invest.
Would the Premier be looking at putting in some type of recommendation in the transition reports to ensure that we have GNWT employees who are suited for this type of work possibly seconded to help assist with this conference? Thank you.
Thank you. The Member recognizes that there’s an election between now and June of 2016, but as a matter of course, we want to make sure that these types of conferences are successful. They provide for a lot of development and bringing investment into the community. By all means, we would do whatever we could to support it so it would be successful. Thank you.
In the press release, it mentioned that the Town of Inuvik is going to start preparing to have a very successful conference and trade show. In terms of any reports that do come out of the Energy Charrette that we had previous and this Energy Charrette, will the Premier ensure that the mayor and council as well as the staff that are focusing on this conference be on the distribution list or will they be able to get a copy of the report so that they can see where the government is going and possibly focus their conference on the same wavelength? Thank you.
I believe the mayor of Inuvik is part of the Energy Charrette, and by all means, the outcomes of the Energy Charrette will be in the public domain. So, they certainly will be available to the organizers of the Inuvik Arctic Energy and Alternative Technologies Show. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
