Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of ITI. I’ve been a strong advocate of communities for some time. Recently we highlighted the cost of goods in terms of bringing goods from down south and making it available to communities. Our communities are really relying on subsistence activities at the same time and whenever they can they grow their own gardens.
My question is to the Minister of ITI to see what programs exist to support initiatives such as schools undertaking to ensure that people grow their own foods in the community. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I really appreciated the Member’s statement today. I think it’s good news for the community and for his riding when community and especially youth take the opportunity to look at growing locally produced fruits and in this case strawberries.
The Government of the Northwest Territories certainly supports that type of initiative. We’ve got a number of programs. We’ve had the opportunity to get some real money into communities through the Growing Forward federal program and we’ve also augmented that with some of our own programs in the area of Agriculture Development Infrastructure Program. We’ve got about $263,000 going out and $60,000 earmarked as well for the Deh Cho. We’re certainly looking forward to the opportunity to expand the programs that we have, because we do realize the potential that exists of the locally produced produce, vegetables and meat, and fish products as well. Thank you.
I’d like to thank the Minister for his response. It seems the government is encouraging people to undertake those initiatives and it does have existing programs, which is good.
My question to the Minister once again is: Has there been an agricultural assessment or study to indicate whether there’s potential for communities such as Fort Providence to look at some long-term investment planning to undertake community gardens and initiatives so that people can be able and communities can be able to grow their own food? Mahsi.
Thank you. I believe some of that work has been done in conjunction with the Territorial Farmer’s Association, a group that I’ve had the opportunity to meet with, and I’d be more than happy to try to get that information for the Member and put that together for him.
We also have this Community Gardens Program and I mentioned this earlier in this session in relation to a question that I was asked I believe by one of the other Regular Members. When I was down in Fort Simpson recently, we ran into two young university students who are working for ITI delivering the Community Garden Program, and they were in Fort Simpson just on their way to the community of Wrigley to help the community plant a garden. I think we’ve been in 29 communities across the NWT with this Community Gardens Program and we’ve met with great success in that. Thank you.
Thank you. My question is, agriculture seems to have been cited as a very important potential for us to develop an industry so that we support our farmers that would like to make a living, at the same time to ensure that Northerners are independent to grow their own food. I know this government has committed to develop an overall Northwest Territories economic strategy. How does agriculture fit in that strategy? Mahsi.
Thank you. We hope that when the Sustainable Economic Development Strategy gets rolling, agriculture certainly will fit into that strategy and will be thoroughly examined. Some communities have a lot more opportunities in that area than others, especially communities, of course, in the southern part of the Northwest Territories. But as I mentioned in my Minister’s statement earlier today, it will be at the community level where opportunities exist. Again, agriculture for many communities is going to be one of the areas that we will target. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
