Bob McLeod

. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Residual heat projects are a very important component of our alternative energy framework. I’d just like to point out that in 2009 we allocated $1.3 million for the Fort Liard Residual Heat Project and in 2010-2011 $800,000 will be used to complete the Fort Liard project and $1 million is allocated for the Inuvik project. The Fort McPherson Residual Heat Project is a success story today. As the Member indicated, the system is a 50-50 joint venture. Right now investigations on upgrading the school service and moving to 100 percent is in the works. We’re also looking...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Whoever in statistics the Member is referring to, we would never say that those sectors were too unimportant to be counted because we feel that agriculture is an important part of our economy. Certainly in the past we introduced the harvesting of morel mushrooms into the Northwest Territories, so we will continue to work with my colleague to see that sector developed.

As the Premier said, it will all hinge on completion of the environmental assessment process, the negotiation of power purchase agreements, the financing and arrangements with the partners in the Deze Corporation. So we’re optimistic about the whole project and, certainly, every step of the way we have to do the due diligence for a successful project. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That’s correct. These are six positions for the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline office that are located in Hay River.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As the chair of the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee, if I could pass the question on to the Premier who is responsible for the Power Corporation if I may, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to present the 2010-2011 Main Estimates for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

ITI’s mandate is to promote economic self-sufficiency through responsible development of the NWT’s natural resources and the promotion of tourism, trade, investment, business and manufacturing to create a prosperous, diverse and sustainable economy for the benefit of all residents.

This mandate supports the commitment of our government that all residents of the NWT must have the opportunity to build a stronger future for themselves, their families and their communities. In...

The Government of the Northwest Territories has identified $2 million this year. It’s located in the budget of ENR. So that’s where it’s identified right now, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

We’ll ensure that we do that. I think we have existing programs through our Aftercare Program.

We did consult with committee and the direction we had was to focus on the small communities and there was no indication at that time that we should be giving all of our money to established businesses. In our view, we are providing funds to the people that we were asked to focus on, which was in the smaller communities, the smaller businesses. In 2008-2009 the SEED program expenditures totalled $1.8 million and the funds grew to $2.9 million which was distributed to 437 approved applicants. Of this, 48 percent went directly to entrepreneurs including business corporation proprietors and other...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As part of our energy priority investments, our alternative energy priority investments, we’ve identified biomass as probably one of the biggest and most important parts of this initiative and this is something that we’ve identified significant investments over the three years of the $5 million and we’re working and participating with the Department of ENR on the development of a draft Biomass Strategy. We are also participating in the Biomass Working Group. For your information, or you may already be aware, this group includes representation from the Government of the...