Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
The sawmill operations in Jean Marie River have always been a large part of their lives for about 50 years. Last spring the community was provided support by the federal government through the First Nations Forestry Program to relocate the operations closer to the community. Needless to say, the community was quite excited about this as the current site is not very good due to soft ground conditions. To date they have cleared and prepared the new site and built an access road to it. Regretfully, the funds from the federal program were not enough to complete the move.
I would like to request the support of the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources to review the request from Jean Marie River to assist with determining how much more resources are needed to complete the move.
During my most recent visit, I can say that the community does need some gravel for the new site and finances to complete the move. They are also very interested in implementing their business plan to start operations again. There is a market out there for them and I know with support from our government we can get the sawmill operations running again and provide the much needed jobs and business income for the community of Jean Marie River.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
