Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In recent years the forest industry has been in decline across the country, but this does not mean the industry is inactive. In fact, right here in the NWT things are looking up.
In the past few months here in the House and in our communities we’ve seen a lot of excitement. I’m excited about the two new forest management agreements signed last year with Aboriginal development corporations in Fort Resolution and in Fort Providence. I hope to see more of these in the future. I’m also excited about the potential for new economic opportunities encouraged by these agreements.
Business initiatives like the wood pellet mill planned to be located near Enterprise can provide job opportunities for residents as well as business opportunities for these corporations.
Forest management agreements have the potential to spur on all kinds of new opportunities, not to mention encourage new business and social partnership between First Nation organizations.
In this we are building on a rich history in the NWT. For instance, firewood for everyday woodstoves collected around the NWT communities already produces about 65,000 megawatt hours of heat every year. We also have a history of community-rooted forestry work, like at the Jean Marie River and the Fort Resolution sawmills and, of course, a diverse history of First Nations engagement and interaction with our forests.
Aboriginal forestry and integrated forest management – managing resources to achieve the best results for varied kinds of users – have flourished across Canada. While forestry in the NWT is at an early stage in new development, we can learn from First Nations and success stories across the other regions, regions that have been at work in this industry since the early 1980s, like the Tl’azt’en Nation and Lax Kw’alaams Band in British Columbia. The Government of New Brunswick has held forest management agreements with each of its 15 First Nations communities since 1998.
I look forward to NWT communities joining the ranks of these success stories both for managing forest land and for branching out into biomass industries like wood pellet production, continuing to incorporate our Aboriginal heritage into our business practices. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
