Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be for the Minister of Finance. My first question is: can the Minister provide a brief update on the status of the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Link? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is work is progressing along very well and my understanding is that it’s supposed to be lights-on during 2016. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Can the Minister identify the jobs that may be available at the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility and the Western Arctic Geomatics Centre as a result of the completion of the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Link?
Mr. Speaker, because of Inuvik's geographically-gifted location there's a great deal of interest in satellite stations in Inuvik. I had the opportunity to speak to a number of those folks that want to put satellite receiving stations there. It's obviously very high-tech field. I have spoken to the gentleman that was doing the consulting for the GNWT and I had asked him to give us some of the skill sets that may be required for working on the facilities once they're completed, and he was going to get that information back to me, but I see a great opportunity to work with Aurora College to possibly have some of the training available for some of the higher-tech positions. Once I get that list and some of the skill sets that might be needed, I will share it with the Member and with committee.
That answered a part of my next question, but I'll ask this anyway. Has the Minister worked with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to identify training opportunities in connection with the new Geomatics Centre and the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility?
No, I haven't had a conversation with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment yet. But, as I said before, once I get a better understanding of some of the skill sets that might be needed and some of the training courses that we may be able to offer, I will have a conversation with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to see if there's an opportunity for us to consider running some courses that might be beneficial to a number of our students. In my conversations with the folks from DLR in Germany, I had talked to them about the fact that if they can send folks over to Inuvik and train some of our people there, I said, or we can send some of our young people over to Germany to get the proper training there. His comment was, well, if we send people to Inuvik they may not want to come back, and I said, that's precisely the point.
---Laughter
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister commit to discussing training opportunities with for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and other relevant departments, to increase the number of Northerners involved in the research and development that is taking place in our back yard? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Absolutely. I see this as a great opportunity for a knowledge-based economy in Inuvik and I think there's plenty of opportunities there. I will work with all the appropriate departments to see if we can come up with plans and options for our young people, because as we all know, our young people nowadays are very tech savvy and they will be able to contribute a lot, and this might be something that would interest a lot of them. I will commit to working with my colleagues to see what we can advance.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
