Thank you, Mr. Speaker. NWT exploration takes a hit. Investment in environment is not as strong as it should be. Mineral exploration is booming in Nunavut. These are the media headlines to which every resident of the NWT is reading. What is interesting is that it is also occurring at the heels of a successful geoscience forum. Pretty sad, but moreover, quite embarrassing.
Have investors lost confidence in the Northwest Territories? By sheer numbers, it is very clear they have. Even our Chamber of Mines is quick to point out that, in comparison to our two neighbours, something has gone wrong here in the Northwest Territories. Nunavut is up over 23 percent this past year with $396 million being invested in 2011. Even the Yukon is up by 21 percent, with the NWT down 5 percent in 2011 at a meager $81 million in investment. These are not numbers to be proud of and our residents in the business community deserve some serious answers from this government.
What is causing this poor performance? Some say it stems from our complicated regulations and unsettled land claims. Yet others feel our stakeholders do not know where we stand to our barriers of investment. However, there are those that chastise previous Assemblies for not applying such things as the McCrank Report into action.
No matter what the hurdles are to stimulate this economy, we cannot linger lightly along, hoping for our federal counterparts to magically save the day. Our diamond mining industry has hit its peak, and without future investment in this territory, we will be in serious trouble. Although I am proud of the 17th Assembly’s commitment to working on our Mineral Strategy, it is worrisome that we are taking two paths of approach and hope that the Minister and his team work on ways to put some confidence back into this industry in short order.
Some of our younger members here today in the gallery and I am sure those watching want to read tomorrow’s headlines. NWT back on top. Exploration is strong again in the NWT. The mineral future is bright. These are what people want to read.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
