Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I spoke about the need to create jobs in the communities and the need to support our youth so that they can become the true incubators and facilitators of opportunity in the small communities. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
We keep talking about the need to diversify our economy, and I think we are doing a lot of good things in different areas to do that, but the challenge as I see it is still: how are we going to get many of our young creative thinkers in the communities to bring forward their ideas and have them supported and nurtured? Can the Minister tell the House what programs or initiatives his department has that can help young entrepreneurs in small communities turn their ideas into reality? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm looking forward to what other questions the Member is going to have here on this as well, because this is something that has always been very important to me. Being a small business guy myself and how I got to where I am, this is a conversation that I am glad we are going to have in this House today.
The department has a number of things. We have our SEED program and these things as such, but to get young people involved in the business community and to become entrepreneurs in our society is not just my role as the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. I think a big part of it is with the Minister of Education and Employment.
I continue to harp and bring to the table around the SNAP program. I think that's one of the best programs that we have within our government to get young people involved in business and find a career that they might be interested in. I can say, as a Cabinet Member travelling around the Northwest Territories, I want to commend and thank the school of Fort Good Hope because, when we went there, they have a bagel program, which doesn't sound very complicated, but when you stand here and think about it for a second, a principal there took on a bagel program that takes them to the young students to that school right to the whole step from ordering their own flour, to buying their machines, to producing the product, to packaging it, to marketing it, to bringing it to the stores, and setting up deals to be able to sell these sorts of things. These are the types of programs, I think, as a government as a whole we need to promote as leaders in this Assembly, and leaders in the communities need to focus on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. Yes, concept to completion and getting it out to market is key, and it is well appreciated. I am happy to hear that this is going on in our communities. That is what the line of questioning is about today, and the old saying is that two minds are better than one. I would like to ask the Minister: how are we connecting youth in our communities with other like-minded people so that the collaboration can take place, and fostering of ideas can be grown upon? In other words, what types of networks are available for young entrepreneurs or young entrepreneurial-minded people?
A couple of examples that I just talked about. The SNAP program is very important, I feel, especially for young people who want to go into not just business but a career. We have the Future Entrepreneur Program within the BDIC that they do. The Member is well aware of that. I think he has actually spoken at some of those sessions, but that is focused more on people 18 to 39 years old, which is very important for entrepreneurs because that is the age that you are probably going to start thinking about, or go into business. My point being, though, today was: how are we going to get even younger people involved in this, and how do we get them thinking about that? One of the magazines, and most Members in this House don't know that I read, I read Success magazine all the time. It is something I just talked about recently with my wife that I want to talk to the Minister of Education about, they have under there, the Success Foundation. This is based on teens. It is an eight-principle pillar thing, and it gets the creative mind going for young people. What it takes to achieve goals, pursue a career, become a more productive citizen, and stuff, and I want to have a conversation with the Minister of Education of how we can maybe incorporate this into some of our schools in the Northwest Territories to create the next version of entrepreneurs for the Northwest Territories.
Yes, these are the kinds of answers that I'd like to hear. I appreciate the Minister giving that reply; building connections and building networks for young entrepreneurial-minded people to grow their ideas is very important.
Let's go back to the communities. If someone has an idea, what availability do they have in terms of access to those who might know a little bit better who can support them in development of safe business plans or for support for their financing the idea or that sort of thing? Are there any kind of mentors or programs of that nature that are accessible at the community level?
We have ITI staffing in most of the regional centres. Some of the smaller communities, that's going to be a little bit tougher. They are going to have to reach out to the regional centres to be able to do that, but we are willing to assist in any way we can. I know BDIC has their online programming, as well. Like I have said, though, future entrepreneur and these sorts of things tend to focus on 18 to 39 year-olds. Entrepreneurship is for everybody who wants to enter it. There are people who want to become entrepreneurs later in life. We are out there to help them, and my best suggestion is, depending on the age, you might want to reach out to the principal of your school, or your councillor, a local businessperson. Where do we go to help you to move this centre and find a mentor, possibly, to help you deal with that? It is a complicated maze of things that you have to do to become an entrepreneur, but the number one thing that I always promote to any youth who I'm talking to is always do something that you love doing and it will not be a job.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for his reply. Now, let's say somebody has the good idea of let's say they have done the plan. Let's say they have the funds. Now they were about ready to make the product, but they need a market for that product, Mr. Speaker. What are we going to do to help promote and market products that are coming out of the North? There is a lot of creativity. There are a lot of different ideas, but we need exposure. I'd like to know what our government has in terms of program services, any kinds of resources that a young mind in the community can take advantage of to expose their product to the market outside the borders of their community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Within the SEED program, there is a marketing component that the entrepreneurs can reach out to. I know it's one program that's not used widely across the Northwest Territories, because when I was in business, I know I used it and it was something that was very undersubscribed. There is an opportunity there for entrepreneurs within our territory to be able to reach out to the department to access this money. It's used for a number of things. You can go to conferences to learn about our trade shows, to learn about the product that you're moving, or equipment that you need to buy to produce a product. There is a program there and it is undersubscribed, and I would appreciate if people would use it a little more so they can get their markets to other markets. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
