Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of ITI with regard to my Member’s statement yesterday and looking at the possibility of supporting the people in Haiti by providing them shelter. As I noted yesterday in my Member’s statement, there are over 160 tents in the canvas shop in Fort McPherson in inventory. This government committed $50,000 to Haiti, but I think the demand right now is shelter. As we can see from the pictures on television, these people are simply using tarps and tying them together for shelter. I think the latest statistics state that there’s over a million people without shelter.
I’d like to ask the Minister of ITI if he has had any discussions with External Affairs or the federal government or the Canadian Military on the possibility of taking these tents to Haiti to get them to the people who need them.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
I think that’s a great idea and we are always looking for a market for our products. I think that would be an excellent way to promote the tents and the products of the Northwest Territories. The main thing is it’s operating as a business, so we would have to find the money to pay for the tents. I think we would perhaps do that through a supp of some sort if we get the necessary support.
There’s been hundreds of millions of dollars raised through charity by people across Canada for which the federal government, I believe, matched $50 million. There is a lot of money in the system. My understanding is that only something like 35 percent of the money has actually made its way to Haiti. There’s some 65 percent still sitting and that hasn’t been expended. I think that’s the area we should be focusing on. So I’d like to ask the Minister, or even through this government, have we seriously made the offer to the country of Haiti through the Government of Canada or External Affairs for the Canadian Military to find a way to get these tents from Fort McPherson to Haiti, and at the end of the day, who’s going to pay for it? That’s another matter, but I think the key situation here is let’s get those tents to the people who need it. Thank you.
I guess the hardest part would be the logistics of getting 160 tents from Fort McPherson to Haiti. Right off the top of my head, I would expect we could probably do it on a backhaul from Inuvik or one of the trucks that are going back. I know that one of the local airlines, First Air, has provided a couple of their Hercs free of charge to assist in Haiti, so that’s one avenue. I guess another avenue is to get the military to fly it out of Inuvik. Those are some of the logistics that we would have to look at, Mr. Speaker.
I’d like to thank the Minister for that, because I think that’s the type of thinking and type of support we’re going to need from either non-governmental organizations, the private sector and do our part to get these tents to the people in Haiti. My issue is, we have to find a way of getting them there. I’d just like to ask the Minister, have you spoken to anyone in regard to the Prime Minister’s office or someone in Ottawa to see exactly how they can work with ourselves, as the Government of the Northwest Territories, to find a way to get these tents to the people in Haiti.
No, I have not had the opportunity to convey this information to anyone as of yet, but, certainly, I think it would be a good idea. I know these tents; people can live in the middle of winter under these tents, so it would certainly be helpful in Haiti. But this is something that we can get a hold of the responsible parties to try to make it happen.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government spent $50,000 and donated to Haiti. Again, we could have probably purchased 50 tents which could have gone to Haiti already. But again, it’s up to us as government to find a way. I know that the Minister mentioned that they are possibly looking at a possible supp, but, again, I think that there are a lot of NGOs that have basically raised money across the country. So I’d like to suggest making contacts with those organizations, put them on notice that these tents are there and find a way that we can work with them to get them to the people of Haiti. I’d like to get a commitment from the Minister that he gets someone within his department to start getting the phones going so that we can make these contacts and get these tents to the people in Haiti.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t know if it would be somebody within my department, but I think that from within the government we can certainly look at the opportunities. Also, my understanding is the Prime Minister of Canada is in Haiti right now, so perhaps that would be another avenue whereby we get the Prime Minister to make an announcement and maybe they’ll pay for all the tents as well. I think there are a number of different ways we can approach this and I think that we’ll start looking at it right away. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
