Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In December I asked questions about the return of the Prospectors Grubstake Program. On Friday, February 10th, the Minister made the announcement that that program will be reinstated. I can tell you that there’s some very positive news from constituents of mine. At the same time in December, I asked questions about the training component and I have to say the Minister’s announcement fell quite silent on that particular subject. I’m wondering what the Minister has to say today regarding the possibility of reinstating a training component to the Prospectors Grubstake Program.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. David Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A training component to that is something the department is interested in and something that we will look at.
Will is quite a big word. What does “will” in this particular case mean? Is it his direction from a Minister’s point of view of instructing the department to reinstate that type of programming or is it just a matter of a case of “if they feel like it?”
My belief is that there are many individuals in the smaller communities who could benefit from becoming field assistants when it comes to prospecting and that’s the angle that I’d certainly like to see the department continue to pursue so that we can get people to work in the smaller communities, helping prospectors out on the land.
Is this an initiative that could be implemented in the upcoming business plans this fiscal year of the 2012-2013 that we’ll be reviewing in May?
Yes, that’s something that we could certainly look at in the upcoming business plans.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
