Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I have questions regarding Quebec’s Plan Nord, not specifically about it but what the Premier can do in regard to a Northwest Territories plan North. Although I tried to make a little spinoff of The Raven, which is written by Edgar Allen Poe, about the plight of Members trying to get the issues and the ears of the government, Plan Nord by Quebec is built around four major objectives which ensures the well-being of northern development for Aboriginal people in communities, achieve the immense economic potential of Quebec’s north, make the North accessible and, finally, protect the environment.
With these types of tenets that are very important in principles of Quebec, not unlike the Northwest Territories, what does the Premier think of the concept of the idea of us finally developing a plan North which would build some certainty of both the industry and, of course, environmental protection? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had the opportunity to discuss Plan Nord with Premier Charest before the last election where he lost the election. We discussed the elements of Plan Nord. He was very excited about Plan Nord. He saw it as the way of the future. But in discussions with Premier Charest, it quickly became obvious to me that without devolution, and recognizing that Quebec is a province, unless we had control or we had the ability to make decisions on land and water and development of resources, it would be very difficult for us to implement something similar to Plan Nord. Also, we are waiting to see whether the new Quebec government will be continuing with Plan Nord or changing it or not continuing with it.
I think that there are so many elements of a plan that I like. I will pay them the ultimate compliment by saying that we are going to steal as much of this plan as we could. I think we are developing quite a number of initiatives and strategies. I think we will be able to come up with our own plan Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the answer from the Premier. I thought it really spoke to, sort of, the position at large.
It is difficult to jump into something like this without having control of the lands and whatnot. If he learned a little bit about Plan Nord, what you will find is it also is complicated with tax incentives, which is a challenge for us without devolution. It is never too late to start planning for tomorrow, especially in partnership with our Aboriginal governments that we are equal partners in the future of the Northwest Territories.
Does the Premier himself see a chance for us to get something on the discussion agenda with northern government partners, the Aboriginal governments, about developing a plan North in the Northwest Territories speaking of the values of the North, as I mentioned earlier? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, this is something that we are working on from a number of fronts. First and foremost, we are working with our Aboriginal government partners, obviously, on devolution. We have been able to develop an Aboriginal Engagement Strategy where we are working very well with our Aboriginal governments. I think that we are starting to develop a common vision and understanding for going forward in the North.
As a government, we have a host of strategies that we are working on, including the Economic Opportunity Strategy, a Minerals Development Strategy and the Transportation Strategy. We are developing energy plans. At the end of the day, we will pull all of these together and we will have plan Northwest Territories where we will all decide to get in the same canoe and all start to paddle in the same direction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I certainly like what the Premier said. The only thing I would change, of course, is to define this more as a roadmap or blueprint towards the northern future that we all share an equal investment in. When I say that, I don’t mean just Members, I also mean Aboriginal governments, as well, because they are our partners into the future of the territory.
Does the Premier see in the short term a chance to bring all of these strategies together in a blueprint document? Whether it is called the Northwest Territories plan Nord or by any other name would certainly be welcome. Does the Premier see an opportunity to start to sew this future together as a forward plan type of thinking? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, that is our plan. Ultimately, we will pull all of these strategies together. We have put in place the framework so that we can all work together. That is what we are trying to develop through Section 6 of the Devolution Agreement-in-Principle. We will have the benefit of all of these strategies that we will have input from all of the different sectors and stakeholders of the Northwest Territories and governments as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier knows better than anyone, by all means, through my experience with him, seeing him in charge of many portfolios over the years, as well as his experience in public service, he would be able to say, to some respect, that history is always curious about getting into an area without a plan, and it makes it challenging whether it’s taxation plans, whether it’s land use plans and, again, mining strategies as you add all these things up together, hydro strategy, et cetera.
Does the Premier see in the foreseeable future some type of document we can get out there to the rest of Canada and the world as we court further investment in the Northwest Territories, a chance to lay something out as a blueprint, and when would we see this? Thank you.
Thank you. I guess that’s the rationale behind a number of these strategies, is that we want to make sure that industry and other potential investors know that we’re a responsible, mature government that can make decisions, and that we will have a very smooth transition through devolution and that they will have a very clear understanding of where we’re coming from in areas like minerals development, economic development, the land use and sustainability frameworks amongst others. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
