Debates of March 18, 2004 (day 3)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hope I find a Minister that doesn’t take my question as notice. I certainly want to raise that point with the Speaker. Today, Mr. Speaker, in the context of my Member’s statement and also the replies to the opening address, I want to ask the Minister of RWED if he’s willing to work with his department to change the philosophy from one of enforcement to one that supports resource development in the smaller communities across the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Just a point in regard to how the questions are answered. The Minister has the responsibility to either answer the question, take the question as notice, or not answer the question. Those are the three processes. If they take your question as notice, that’s their prerogative. I have some power, but I don’t have the power over that.

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Minister of RWED.

Return To Question 34-15(3): Supporting Resource Development In Small Communities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate your procedural advice. I think I’ll heed some political advice and answer the man’s question here today…

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…to make sure that we keep things on the right track. I think it’s a very interesting question and the Member is mentioning our philosophy of enforcement as it relates to the protection of the environment and the protection of wildlife. Of course, we have obligations in that regard that flow from land claims. It’s very important to realize and to work with communities to help them realize where there are economic development opportunities that might not immediately be obvious.

I believe as a government we have an obligation and a responsibility to try to help communities pursue those so they can be self-sustaining. Not everybody is going to want to work in the mining industry. Not everyone is going to want to be in oil and gas. I think it’s not immediately obvious always that there are markets out there for many products that we traditionally harvest in the North and could continue to do so and it can be very lucrative.

So, yes, our department is certainly willing to work with people in the communities to help them realize these opportunities and I certainly look forward to good suggestions coming from that side of the House from many of the very entrepreneurial Members who’ve spent some good time thinking about this. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Allen.

Supplementary To Question 34-15(3): Supporting Resource Development In Small Communities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to hear that the Minister is prepared to work with us in trying to address some of the key questions that are raised consistently by our constituents. Again, it goes back to my statement yesterday about how we want to put people back on the land to become resourceful again. So I’m going to ask the Minister if he’s prepared to work with the Minister of ECE to develop an initiative that would influence people to move back on the land and not only develop land skills, but also to help in the recovery process of many of their social problems that are consistent with a number of the questions other Members have asked in the past. I would ask the Minister if he’s prepared to work with the Minister of ECE to introduce some new initiatives that would support that. Thank you.

Minister of RWED, Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 34-15(3): Supporting Resource Development In Small Communities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll certainly sit down with my Cabinet colleagues and specifically Minister Dent to discuss this issue because I think it’s very important that we support people who want to pursue traditional lifestyles and want to live on the land. Obviously, though, you have to have some means to sustain yourself. You have to have some ability to have an income. I think that I am certainly very proud of the work that we’ve done for the hunting and trapping, specifically the trapping community. I think our Mackenzie Valley fur pricing program, the prime fur bonus, helps and goes a long way toward helping trappers making a living at this pursuit. I think it’s by far probably the best program in the country in this regard.

I know it’s important for us to help people get back on the land if that’s what they choose, but we have to recognize that it will be about economic development programs because most people simply can’t sustain themselves without some ability to pursue an income. I think we need to work very closely as a government, as a Cabinet, but it will be about a lot of the programs that this department is responsible for delivering. I think a lot of that responsibility will come on my shoulders as Minister of this department. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Allen.

Supplementary To Question 34-15(3): Supporting Resource Development In Small Communities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to hear that and my final question to the Minister then is, is he willing to put more money toward the marketing aspect of that resource development in support of the trappers? Once they’re on the land they’re self-sustaining, as we know as previous trappers, hunters and food gatherers. So I’m going to ask if he’s prepared to put money into the marketing aspect of that sector of the economy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of RWED, Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 34-15(3): Supporting Resource Development In Small Communities

Thank you. We do rely on southern auction houses to sell the furs, and I know the Member is very aware of that. I think we recognize that we had some communication problems initially with helping people in the territory understand some of the recent changes we’ve made to the programs. Sometimes that’s because there’s turnover at the local level and we tried to address that by putting together a communications package and making sure that our renewable resource officers have this information and can speak with community members. I think it’s also about making sure that in the large markets in southern Canada or the United States, people have an understanding and a recognition of just how valuable our Mackenzie Valley furs are. That’s why we’ve tried to make sure that our fur pricing bonus is available for the finest furs so that when people see products from the Northwest Territories they’re impressed and it creates demand and that will allow us to keep these trappers doing what they do best, as the Member has said. Once they’re on the land they are sustainable.

So I think we need to work with southern auction houses to continue to develop this genuine Mackenzie Valley fur program, to make sure that there is a demand and there is a premium for furs coming from the Northwest Territories. I have asked the department to carefully look at many of our programs and see if we can’t take a look at some of the rationale for doing these, make sure that the programs we’re delivering are still our highest priority programs.

I have no illusions and no belief that we’re going to find a lot of new money, so I’ve asked the department to look at some of the money we’re currently spending and if we’re spending money in priority areas that no longer seem to make sense, then I’d like to adjust it and move it into some areas that we know are important to us going forward. I do believe there will be a lot of profile on oil and gas and on mining and that needs a lot of our support, but largely economic issues will drive that. If we truly believe that we’re going to and it’s important to have a diversified economy, we need to put more money into some of these other activities and I’ll certainly work to continue to do that. Thank you.