Debates of March 10, 2009 (day 26)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement on sawmills, particularly Jean Marie River. Perhaps I’ll ask the Minister of ITI, as he had the Western Harvesters Fund. Are there existing sawmills that are funded within his department right now or is there a specific program to fund sawmills?

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d just like to point out that the Western Harvesters Assistance Program was not intended for forestry operations; it was intended for people who live on the land.

There are no existing sawmills except for one in Hay River, mainly because of the difficulty in getting access to forest resources.

In terms of business programs, business programs are available to any business and it’s all based on feasibility. I’m very pleased to point out that in conjunction with the Minister of ENR, there is Biomass Strategy funding that’s available to the tune of $5 million over three years.

Indeed, the community of Jean Marie River is very excited for the Biomass Initiative because that is something that they are pursuing as well. The community is also concerned about their existing sawmill operations because the sawmill operations are good. It produces the fuel, the need for biomass co-generation, et cetera. Can we look at stand-alone or project-specific dollars within ITI or maybe…I think the Minister is also leading the energy committee. Can we look at something that can take up the stimulus needed for the forestry industry?

This is an area that government would really like to see developed. We would like to see pilot projects established, particularly in the area of wood pellets. But I think that my colleague the Minister of ENR, as members of the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee, we would certainly like to see that developed. As I said, part of our problem has been the difficulty in accessing forest resources. With our business programs and the Biomass Strategy funding, I’m sure that this is a good way to go forward.

Certainly everybody in the North and throughout the world is interested in following up on alternate energy supplies. I think the key industry for Jean Marie River is the forestry industry. Is there a fund for a sustainable forest harvesting study that the Minister is aware of?

Most of our funding in ITI is business related. We could assist with funding to establish a business plan or to do some market research along those lines.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Certainly I think Jean Marie River is eligible to access that type of funding. I think the key message here is that right now our government is not concentrating on the forestry industry. I know we have some business planning coming up. I’d like to ask the Minister and even government on the other side of the House to ensure that it’s part of our strategy in the upcoming business planning cycle. It’s a complementary strategy to our Biomass Strategy.

As part of our planning, there’s been some considerable research done into the Biomass Strategy and part of that is looking at what would entail having a feasible and sustainable industry. That information is available to all communities.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.