Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up to my statement earlier, my first question to the Minister of Finance is that the recent approval for the licensing for the operators for the Inuvik Satellite Station was good news. This has taken some time. Can the Minister explain why the approval has taken so long? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the licensing for the satellite operators requires licensing through the federal government. GNWT is not directly involved, and there is a rigorous application and review process. We believe that needs to be looked at in the future. Part of it may be because their legislation is outdated and needs to be updated a bit. We continue to work with them on that.
Thanks for the reply here. My next question to the Minister is: what is the GNWT doing to work with the federal government to ensure this process is improved?
Mr. Speaker, in the Member's statement before, he talked about the fact that this has taken almost three years to get this done. We are concerned with that. We do continue to raise it at the federal government's tables that we go to. I recently raised it in December at the Finance Minister's table and our MP, who is working extremely hard in Ottawa, raising it with his counterparts, as well. Our Minister of ITI has sent a letter. Our Premier, I believe, has brought it up to the table that he is involved in. I think Ottawa realizes now that this is something that they need to have a look at. I have made the comment that we do not want to see a lot of our investment not being utilized and have the satellite companies going to Alaska, for example, if their process is not as rigorous as ours. This is something that is new, and I do believe that we are going to take steps along with Ottawa to rectify this and have the process go a little smoother.
Thanks for that reply there. I am glad to hear there are efficiencies from the process, that we are learning and benefiting. My question is: what is our government doing to take full advantage of the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility?
Mr. Speaker, it was a significant investment into the fibre optic link down the Mackenzie Valley. One of the things that they built into the link right away was the number of strands that they had in the fibre line that was going down. We are well-positioned in the future if there was a demand for more services out of that. We try to make the international community aware of our investment and they have been fairly receptive. We have an annual Inuvik Satellite Station Facility AGM, where we have a number of people that come in every June, and they check out our facilities and the area and the connection, just to see if there is an opportunity for them to make an investment into satellites there. Now that work is happening to speed up the regulatory process or the application process, they may be more receptive to adding more dishes to the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question to the Minister is: with the experiences to date on reviews of engagement or monitoring, is the Minister of Finance of the opinion that this is a good investment, with the experiences to date and the cash flow to date and the signed customers on the system?
We think it is an excellent investment, and it is one that was needed. It is one that we may be able to build on. I think there are communities down the valley that are taking advantage of the new technology, which is welcome and would help with a number of things down the valley, but we think it is a good investment.
Again, with the application process possibly streamlined, that may send a message out to a lot of those out there who were considering investing into the Satellite Station Facility in Inuvik. They might come on board a little sooner now. We think it is a good investment, and we think it is the way of the future. With the number of strands that were built in the fibre line, I think we are well-positioned if there is an increase in the demand for our service. It was a good investment, and I think we are well-positioned. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
