Mr. Speaker, I’d like to follow up on my spontaneous Member’s statement regarding the Minister of ITI’s announcement about the Minister’s Advisory Panel on the Economy. Does the Minister agree that a strong and sustainable economy is one that actually includes social and environmental considerations best represented by members of those communities?
The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
I do agree.
Is it the intent of the Minister’s Advisory Panel on the Economy to ensure that it benefits all residents?
That’s exactly the reason we set up that panel.
Mr. Speaker, our economy is sort of like a freight train right now. We have a roaring economy. There’s a lot of people benefitting. At the same time there’s a lot of people who are feeling barrelled over, as we heard in some of the statements today. There’s a number of passengers on this train. Clearly, those passengers who are benefitting are industry representatives, businesses and so on.
Will the Minister invite onto this panel representatives of the social and environmental communities?
The intention of the panel is to create jobs and benefits for some of the smaller communities. The economy is heated here in Yellowknife. I think we benefit from there. We heard the Member for Tu Nedhe talking about the lack of jobs and opportunities in the communities in his riding. Our approach is…. We want to try to provide for all the communities.
I did indicate that the size of the panel would be up to 12 members. We haven’t really nailed it down in stone as to who would be represented on it. Certainly, we’d be willing to consider putting representatives, or NGOs, as the Member suggested.
Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
I’m sure the NGOs will look forward to that, and the members of the social and environmental community.
One last point of agreement I’m looking for: does the Minister agree that MLAs, as the elected representatives of — especially on this side of the House — most of the people of the Northwest Territories, probably should have had some input on this panel, and that their input might have been useful, or at least worth considering and, in fact, consistent with consensus government?
I thought that’s what I was doing with this statement. This panel has not been created. I would welcome any input the Members may have. The panel will advise me on areas within my responsibility.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
