Denny Rodgers

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my question's around the scientific collaborative research projects. Given that Inuvik obviously is a research hub, a lot of research is actively done through the Aurora Research Institute up there, and it also provides an economic benefit for Inuvik and the region as well. I note in 2022-2023, there was $403,000 spent. I'm wondering why it's been reduced to $150,000 this year. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that this committee defer further consideration of Tabled Document 111-20(1), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2024-2025, at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seconded this motion. I, as my colleagues know, it's something I brought up in this House as well. A former councillor, a former mayor of my town, and someone obviously who works closely with the current Mayor Wood and his council up there, very important that we do bridge this gap and this work get done to ensure that the funding is done equitably throughout the territory. And I won't take any more time than that other than to say full support and thank the Member for Yellowknife Centre for bringing it forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. Certainly, that portion of the redundancy is very important to the businesses and the satellite station facility as the Minister alluded to. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, I guess, who is the owner of the fibre line once it's complete, the redundancy line?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you've heard me speak in this House regarding the Inuvik satellite station facility, an important piece of the economy viability in Inuvik and certainly, Mr. Speaker, was the anchor tenant for the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Line, which I appreciate this previous government had completed. Mr. Speaker, now there's a redundancy line being built through the Dempster Highway and through Whitehorse and over through Fort Nelson as well to ensure that we do have a redundancy loop for any breakages or any lapses in that line that's important to this facility.

Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, just briefly -- and I'm assuming maybe following up on my colleague's question -- I notice that the seasonal positions in the Beaufort Delta dropped by three coming up in this year. Can the Minister speak to why we're no longer required to have those positions in Inuvik? Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, thank you. I appreciate that. It's unfortunate certainly given that likely anything we do with petroleum, particularly around obviously as this House has heard me say, around the trillions of cubic feet of natural gas we have in our region, the fact that we have a natural gas production facility getting ready to come on stream in the next couple of years in our region, certainly would be great if we felt that ITI had beefed up the staff in that region as well to coincide with this work being done and hopefully to look at work that's going to be done in the future as this...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So just to clarify, because I know there was no reduction of full-time positions in the Beaufort Delta region, so I guess that obviously was likely amalgamated in the previous year, and did that result in a reduction of a position at ITI in Inuvik, or is that position still -- the manager's position is now filling that role?

I guess -- thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess specifically, I mean, I know a lot of research is being done around permafrost degradation in my region around the -- as the Minister said, around the geoscience, around the knowledge economy, and around the mineral and petroleum potential in that region, particularly around the petroleum potential. So I guess my question is does the Minister feel that that will have a negative impact on the amount of research programs now happening -- ability for research programs to happen at the Aurora research institute, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my question's around the Great Northern Arts Festival. I know the Minister knows how important this festival is to the community of Inuvik and to the Northwest Territories. I note that I believe the answer is that the funding was deferred, but I just wanted to get -- sorry, moved to another department. I just wanted to get that on record, Mr. Chair, that the $25,000 for the Great Northern Arts Festival is still available. Thank you.