Brendan Bell

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that’s how Members of this House feel. I know that that’s how residents of the Northwest Territories feel. We do need an EDA agreement. I’ve made that very clear to both Minister Blondin-Andrew and Minister Scott. Minister Blondin-Andrew agrees, as well. What we have right now is this economic development money for the next five years. Minister Scott has made the point to me that we need to talk about how to best use this money and make the compelling argument that he can take back to the Treasury Board that says this was money that was well used...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s quite a bit of history here; a number of meetings and discussions at several levels in our government with federal colleagues. I also had discussions with Minister Blondin-Andrew and Minister Scott. Collectively the three territories initially believed, and there’s probably still some belief, that the money should be turned over to the territorial governments, there should be bilateral contributions. We believe we have the vehicles to deliver the program funding. The federal government was insistent this was a federal program, they weren’t prepared to devolve...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn’t have any detailed discussions of a model of that nature. That’s not to say that they weren’t going on in our department or other departments as this planning was underway. Recommendations came to me for the creation of this Mackenzie Valley pipeline office. Admittedly, I think we have said before, this really comprises our first phase response in terms of resource oil and gas development. This isn’t it. We do need to work to ensure that we are adequately resourced up and down the valley. I guess the real flashpoint of where we need to quickly get some...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First, let me say that Mr. Ramsay asked a very similar question about a week ago in budget deliberations. Certainly I owe Members on that side of the House a full accounting of the supplementary appropriation and where it was proposed to be spent. I will get that detailed accounting to Members as quickly as I can.

Generally, I would say we have about a $2 million a year budget proposed. I know that in 2004-05, the year in question when the supplementary appropriations were approved, we were looking at $925,000 in contributions. That’s roughly half the budget. I think...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s hard for me to disagree that we shouldn’t have been able to move on this more quickly. We have seen this development coming for some time. All I can say is that we are responding now. We are moving very quickly to ensure the office in Hay River is up and running by the end of March. We’ve had a number of stages here in terms of trying to staff. We went northern first. We didn’t get the kind of response we thought we might get, but we are looking for some very specific technical positions. We have broadened the search to include southern Canada. I understand we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member mentioned the Joint Cabinet/AOC Pipeline Planning Committee. Underneath that, obviously, is the Deputy Ministers’ Planning Committee and that committee will oversee the work of the MVPO, which will coordinate the work of the various departments. I agree with the Member, we are probably talking over 20 positions. I don’t have that information handy. I think one of the difficulties is that there may not be dedicated positions in all the departments, but there are portions of positions that are used for this aspect of Mackenzie Valley development, probably...

I certainly think that that’s a great idea and it’s one that we have used in the past to take an on-the-land program where we’ve had elders work with youth in the community, usually through the schools and usually through support from the RWED office, to take young people out trapping and make sure that they understand and learn the skills so that there’s some transfer of that traditional knowledge down to the next generation. I think that that’s certainly the way forward for this program. I think the positive sign is that there seems to be more interest in trapping. It is becoming more...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The renewable resource officers in each community are responsible for the administration of the program. They work with local trappers to ensure that they’re there to take in furs as trappers come off the traplines and then get the furs to market for those trappers, and also providing them with their advances and their bonus if the fur comes in at a level that warrants a bonus and we’re fairly certain that it will fetch a high price at market. So it’s the renewable resource officers. I’ll certainly provide contact information for the Member, but I know that at the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t think we have had a discussion about a specific forum only for the trapping industry at this point, but we have been involved in financially supporting and helping a group through our regional staff and have provided money to a group that was interested in conducting an oil and gas workshop in the region. We have been talking about prospective dates. I don’t have the latest information at my fingertips in terms of the dates that we have identified, but we are obviously providing support already to that and will continue to do so. I will pass on the thoughts...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think our most effective tools for consulting with trappers and people who use this activity for their sustenance is our renewable resource personnel in the regions and in the communities. I have had discussions in the Member’s riding on our most recent trip to Norman Wells with the regional office. They were certainly encouraged. Obviously the price of furs; this winter we have had indicated that numbers were up and things were looking good. But they have ongoing discussions with trappers in terms of discussing their needs, their thoughts on the season and the...