Bob McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my right I have Kelly Kaylo, acting deputy minister. To my left I have Deb Archibald, assistant deputy minister, mineral and petroleum resources, and to my far right Julie Mujcin, director, finance and administration. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is correct. The board is no longer in operation, but in lieu of it we meet with the communities with regards to Diavik. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. The money came from the feds and there’s been no activity whatsoever, so it’s down to zero. The money is provided by industry as well normally. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are continuing to contribute to the operations of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’ll take the Member’s request under advisement. We have other boards as well that fulfills the functions that the Member has raised so we’ll see how we can best serve the interests of the people in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Speaker, research is a key component of a strong future for any resource economy. ITI’s new NWT geological survey division helps to fill this need and provides publicly available geoscience information that is used to stimulate mineral and petroleum exploration and investment, understand environmental change, assess mineral and petroleum resource potential, and assist in infrastructure projects and use decisions. Current projects focus on topics such as diamond exploration in the Slave Geological Province, mineral potential of the Mackenzie Mountains, permafrost melting and associated...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The mine is not in operation so this is for preparatory work to set up an advisory committee when the mine is up and running. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Maybe the Finance Minister can answer in more detail, but my understanding is that the total will not change. The main estimates have already been printed, so we can’t change that. When the budgets are loaded up, it will reflect the fact that this tourism product diversification marketing budget will be made whole, and when the budgets are loaded, the $250,000 will come from other O and M and be reduced by that amount and added into tourism program. Perhaps through you, Mr. Chair, the Minister of Finance may have further detail to eliminate this issue. Thank you, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We do have a diamond division, I guess if I could call it that, that includes three people that work with the diamond industry promoting value added and also promoting the brands of the diamonds in the Northwest Territories. We are involved with marketing, and we also keep track of the trends in the diamond industry. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We do have an Aboriginal member on the Mineral Industry Advisory Board. Thank you, Mr. Chair.