Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The time has never been riper to make the most of our opportunities for northern agriculture. By now, I think we’ve all heard we should think globally and act locally whenever possible. Mr. Speaker, I believe this is especially true for the way we eat and live here in the North, where we face some of the highest costs of living, especially on our food.
Mr. Speaker, there is great demand to buy locally produced products. Across the NWT, we see interest and enthusiasm from northern agriculture. Just ask the Arctic Farmer, who provides herbs to restaurants and there is a hungry demand for those products.
Mr. Speaker, with the decline of the caribou, we need to find solutions for meat to supply the North. Perhaps the caribou crisis is the nexus we needed to finally consider other options seriously. We’ve all known and heard about the South Slave where they were raising pork, raising poultry and other types of beef products over the years that were adjusted and able to produce quite well in this climate, but they are all gone.
Mr. Speaker, the natural features of the NWT bog would be ideal for raising cranberries, which is a billion dollar industry. Mr Speaker, I have heard that places in B.C. don’t want cranberries to suck up their bog and produce things. I want their millions of dollars here in the North, Mr. Speaker, and I hope the Minister too would feel that way.
Mr. Speaker, if you plant a crop, it will produce a crop for 35 years. Mr. Speaker, this is an excellent opportunity to market cranberries to the world. We could take advantage of the northern bog and produce cranberries to feed at Thanksgiving dinners, to produce cranberry drinks, Mr. Speaker.
The Territorial Farmers’ Association estimates that 3.7 million acres of land is suitable to raising potatoes, carrots and livestock here in the North, but we only need 12 acres to produce 25 percent of our existing demand on our food, Mr. Speaker.
Expanding agriculture here in the North to meet 25 percent of our demand to produce products would only really require 5,000 acres of land, Mr. Speaker. That could turn into a $7.4 million investment.
Mr. Speaker, that would produce 31 person years of employment. Mr. Speaker, that would be a great hoorah for our GDP. Mr. Speaker, opportunity is growing on our doorstep and all it has to do is be picked or plucked.
Mr. Speaker, the Territorial Farmers’ Association needs help and I think there are a lot out there that could do a lot of great work, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I think it’s time to put our hand to the plough and stop looking back and moving forward. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of ITI later today about how we can make sure the Growing Forward money gets in the hand of our agriculture industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I have another great idea. I have been talking about renewable resources, Mr. Speaker, and I want to talk about agriculture today.
Mr. Speaker, why can’t we identify tracts of land for agriculture in the Northwest Territories? We have regressed when it come to the area of production of our own food. Mr. Speaker, not that many years ago, boats used to travel down the Mackenzie River and carry fresh fruit to the communities and that product was grown here in the Northwest Territories at many different locations, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, some of the richest land that we know of in Alberta today is in northern Alberta. Mr. Speaker, there are more frost-free days in La Crete, Alberta, than there are in Red Deer and there are fertile soils of the river valleys of the Peace, Athabasca and the Boyer, to name a few.
Mr. Speaker, why not agriculture on the Slave or Mackenzie River valleys? This is why, Mr. Speaker: our land is on hold pending the outcome of unsettled land claims. What if claimant governments could earn money from the lease of their lands for the growing of crops? Good precipitation with our long days of sunlight in the North with no negative impact on the land and a renewable sustainable resource plus food for our people.
Mr. Speaker, the old thinking in crop farming used to be that person only farmed what they owned, but the new and modern way of thinking about this, Mr. Speaker, is for the farmers to actually invest in the equipment, and the workforce and the seed and the product that they need and to actually lease the land so the economies of scale are greater and they can produce. So the idea of having to own the land that you would crop farm is an idea of the past. So leasing the land would not interfere with the interests that our northern aboriginal governments have in the land.
Mr. Speaker, this could be a win/win situation. It would create economy, revenue for claimant groups while land claims are being settled and so on, and the production of crops and food closer to home would drastically reduce the cost, Mr. Speaker.
So to this question today, I will have some points for the Minister of ITI and why not? Why can’t we do it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Determined individuals and groups are working to build agriculture as a new sector in the NWT economy. Success has been variable but increasing overall. Egg production is well established in Hay River and the farmers at Paradise Gardens produce a wide range of vegetables, fruit and meat products for local markets. Many recall the days of yore when fields of grain crops grew in Fort Simpson. Gardens throughout the Mackenzie Valley supply communities and schools. The Cunninghams ran commercial gardens in Yellowknife and everyone, including trappers like my colleague’s father Mike Krutko, in the ‘30s had gardens. Unfortunately, our Bureau of Stats doesn’t monitor agricultural production, but in Yukon, 148 farms and 10,000 hectares had primary sales in 2006 of $4.1 million. Some Yukon farms span generations, with steady and dependable production.
In August the Territorial Farmers’ Association made a presentation to the EDI committee. Based on their members’ experience, NWT agricultural operations could readily supply 25 percent of the NWT market for meat, market vegetables and cereals. An investment of only $7 million into industry expansion would yield an ongoing increase of $2.7 million per year in the territorial GDP, with dozens of jobs and increased incomes. They concluded that agriculture is technically and economically feasible and that people want to see expansion of the industry.
Obvious benefits of producing our own food extend beyond economics; for example, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, healthier foods and food security. The current lack of a GNWT strategy for agriculture with comprehensive support programs is crippling. Availability of land and an agricultural land use plan making available new agricultural land is required with cooperative interim agreements developing the possibility of leased land in land claim areas.
We have not even been evaluating the extent of agricultural land or the opportunities to provide thoughtful support. Other issues need attention. Fuel taxes for mobile equipment are currently levied on farm machinery. This pricing and the lack of off-road vehicle fuel rebates is damaging to our farming efforts. A further burden is the current restriction to using municipal lands which brings in appropriate municipal assessment rates.
Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of ITI on these real and abundant opportunities. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
