Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, many years ago just outside of Fort Resolution, actually about 40 miles down the highway or 60 kilometres down the highway or straight across the lake about 20 miles, they discovered lead-zinc. As a result of that, in the early 1960s a huge lead-zinc mine came into operation in the place that they named Pine Point. That mine operated from the early ‘60s until the late 1980s. At that point, I do believe it was the secondbiggest lead-zinc mine in the world. In the 1980s, the price of lead-zinc went down, and it was no longer feasible to do open pit operation in Pine Point, so the mine didn’t shut down but the town shut down. All of the workers went to other places to work, and what it left behind was quite a legacy, and that legacy of huge open pits all over the area. At one point, there was a community of 2,500 people that lived there, and almost everyone worked at Pine Point. It was a huge operation. They produced a lot of mineral out of there and left. Now you can’t really see the damage to the land by road, but, when you fly over, you’re coming back from Edmonton, you can see all the huge pits.
The people have often asked why that site was not restored or remediated, whatever term that’s appropriate for cleaning up that kind of site. Today, I want to talk a little bit to the Minister and ask the Minister some questions on what the plan is moving forward for Pine Point. The people see that as a huge opportunity to clean up the land. Also, a lot of the individuals feel that a lot of the sickness in Fort Resolution could be associated with that, so it would be good to get a good, proper assessment and put people to work trying to restore that site. Marci cho, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members’ statements. Member for Frame Lake.
