Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of ITI. I’ve talked about the small businesspeople in the North, specifically around the communities I represent in the Sahtu region.
I want to ask the Minister of ITI, given the recent economic recession slowdown this year, has the Minister been monitoring the performance of the number of applicants under the Business Incentive Program this year.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some companies have made business decisions affecting the amount of work that is going to take place in the central Mackenzie Valley in the Sahtu this coming winter. I understand there will be some meetings here this fall, and hopefully the activity returns to the region. But certainly the department and our regional staff are keeping a watchful eye on what’s happening in the region. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, perhaps we could look at the macroeconomics or step back from the government coffers and look at the industry.
Can the Minister of ITI tell us how much investment this government is making in the Sahtu with regard to infrastructure or training, compared to the $35 million invested by big oil in the Tulita district?
Mr. Speaker, I know at ITI we’ve added some positions. There are other government departments that added positions as well. So to get a comprehensive look at what we’ve put into the Sahtu, if the Member wants, over the past two or three years since the activity started, that’s something that I’d like to do for him and we can hopefully put that together and get it to the Member in short order. Thank you.
The businesspeople in the Sahtu are certainly suffering due to a decision by the oil companies. The Sahtu Dene Inn will be a heritage hotel in Norman Wells, or even the Yamoria Inn. They are both beautiful hotels, well-furnished and fully staffed. They are just maintaining the level of just keeping the lights on. Some weeks they only had one or two guests in those hotels, compared to the years back where they were so fully booked that they had to bring in extra trailers.
I want to ask the Minister, this being Small Business Week – and this is the only sector of the businesspeople that I’m talking about in the Sahtu – what is the government doing in regards to the slowdown of the economic activity of the oil and gas industry in the Sahtu, so that our businesspeople do not have to close their doors, turn off their lights and come back when the activity if ramping up again. What is this government doing?
Mr. Speaker, we have to continue as a government to make investments in the Sahtu, and that is in infrastructure. If there’s a way that we can look at projects or opportunities to partner with the region, that’s something that I think is very important, if there’s a lull in the activity here, at least for the next winter. Hopefully there is a return of some activity in the central Mackenzie Valley, so that companies and employers have opportunities there to put people to work. It’s important to see that happen, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Member to see that happen. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The people in the Sahtu from 2006, 2010, had about six Aboriginal businesses, I believe, and later on over the years they have grown to over 30 businesses, maybe more. The economy has slowed down for a time, but they will come back. Believe me, they will come back.
I want to ask the Minister in regard to the activity that’s happened in past years. Can the Minister, through his colleagues, tell us in regard to the income support that this government has given out to our people in the Sahtu region? When the business was booming in the Sahtu, did our income support payments to the Sahtu go down a significant amount of dollars compared to now that we see a huge increase because there is no oil and gas exploration happening in the Sahtu? Thank you.
Thank you. It is a very proud statistic for the region that we saw in Tulita the growth from six Aboriginal-owned businesses to 30 Aboriginal-owned businesses in the past few years. That’s a testament to all the activity and the entrepreneurial spirit that’s in the community. We also saw a big decrease in the amount of income support payments paid to people in the Sahtu. For the exact figure, the Member would probably want to go to ECE and get an exact figure, but anecdotally that figure was around $1 million less in income support payments paid to the people in the Sahtu last year. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
