Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the vision of the GNWT is strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories.
To have a prosperous Northwest Territories we need strong economies and opportunities for Northerners to find meaningful employment. This government spends a significant amount of their time and energy trying to support industry which will help create meaningful employment in the diamond industry, as well as in oil and gas exploration. Although most of these focus on non-renewable resources which result in short-term employment, this is important and obviously must be continued.
Unfortunately, this government does not seem to put equal or even a portion of the attention or emphasis on renewable and more sustainable economies. When we do, we tend to overburden the business with excessive red tape, as outlined in the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses recent report, Prosperity Restricted by Red Tape, which indicated that the NWT is not one of the Canadian jurisdictions taking an aggressive lead in this area.
As a government, we must place greater attention on smaller and more sustainable economies, business and industry which, although smaller than diamond mines or pipelines, will employ Northerners both today and long into the future.
One such industry which has sadly been ignored is the film industry. Prior to this session, my colleague Bob Bromley and I had an opportunity to meet with several passionate NWT-based filmmakers. These individuals are passionate about the industry and are frustrated by the GNWT’s lack of understanding of the benefits of the industry to the NWT as a whole.
A film industry in the NWT has a significant number of advantages to the NWT as a whole, including, but not limited to, employment for Northerners, promotion of the NWT as a place to live, visit and/or work, engage and support other business and industry such as airlines, hotels, transportation and expediting, et cetera, and promote the culture of our great land. Yet, sadly, there is virtually no attention or support given to this industry in the NWT.
Industry, Tourism and Investment employs one half-time position. The incumbent has a number of other responsibilities which compete for attention. Evidence shows that the film industry in the NWT suffers from this mixed attention.
Mr. Speaker, we, as a government, must pay greater attention to small, sustainable economies which will employ Northerners for the long term. The film industry is an example of a small, sustainable industry with which some support can offer employment to Northerners for the long term. Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister of ITI some questions on this topic. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
