David Ramsay

Mr. Speaker, we would anticipate that there wouldn’t be any incidents this coming winter on the structure. It’s located in close proximity to the community of Fort Providence. If you had an accident on the highway system between, say, Edzo and Fort Providence somewhere near Chan Lake, you’re a lot closer to help on the Deh Cho Bridge itself. So we don’t see that as a big issue. We don’t see that as an impediment to opening the bridge this month. The bridge will open and it will be safe to traverse. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, for that detail, I’ll get that from the department and the region. We’ll get that to the Member as well. I will let the Member know exactly what we plan to do there before next park season. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, before the parks close up each and every year, there is an inventory taken of necessary repairs that are required not just at Blackstone but at other territorial parks around the territory. We do our best with maintenance staff and contractors to ensure what can be fixed, with the budget that we have, is fixed and repaired before next park season begins. Thank you.

I think we’ve done a lot with the website. We’ve got a number of times on there. We’ve affiliated ourselves with the Association of Film Commissioners. It’s an international organization that gives, when we use their logo on our website, us instant credibility to the industry world-wide.

As I mentioned earlier, we are working with and we have worked with ECE. We’re working with Finance. We’re trying to find a path forward. We believe that once we do get the report from the consultant that took part in the producer forum, we will be able to chart a course forward and identify areas where we feel...

Mr. Speaker, the oil and gas industry has been at the heart of our economy for many years. As one of our enduring industries, we have always recognized the need to work not only with the companies that want to tap into our vast resources but also with those who live and work in the regions so that the economic benefits remain exactly where they should: in the North.

This past September, representatives from industry, government, Aboriginal organizations and corporations, community leaders and small business gathered together in Norman Wells for the Sahtu Exploration Readiness Session. The two...

We’ve been doing all of this on what amounts to a shoestring budget. Certainly, if we are going to move forward, we’re going to start talking about positions. We certainly need to look at finding some additional funds to make us get to where we need to go.

I’d like to, again, chart that course for Members, work with Members, and we want to make sure that we do this right, that we take advantage of the opportunities that are out there.

Again, the Member mentioned Omni Films. That’s been a company that’s done work here in the Northwest Territories. We need to keep getting the positive message out...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I share the Member’s enthusiasm when it comes to the future of the film industry here in the Northwest Territories. The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment has gone a long way to getting us where we’re at today. We’ve established the website. We’ve established the Film Commission here.

The Member talked about his participation in the NWT Filmmaker and Producer Forum that was held earlier this month. We had helped out with hiring a facilitator for that event. The report and the Member talked about a number of ideas and issues that came up through that forum. We...

Again, we are working toward that. We will continue to work with the folks at the Department of Finance. We will get that information. It’s a work in progress.

I appreciate the Member’s enthusiasm about the film industry here in the Northwest Territories and its importance to our economy here. We’re going to make sure that we get this right and continue to work with both Finance and Education, Culture and Employment.

The federal dredging program ended in 1994. There hasn’t been a program in place since then. The federal government has completed hydrographical surveys of the port of Hay River. They’ve identified several areas of concerns, but yet they haven’t been able to come up with the resources that are necessary to, in a meaningful way, dredge the port of Hay River. Again, that’s an area that we have identified as a concern and something that we need to continue to address with the federal government.

That will have to be balanced with the other urgent demands for the highway further down from the community of Fort Liard. We certainly hope to find a balance to find the money to get the chipsealing done.

Reconstruction of that highway is a major concern for us. I’ve mentioned it before. It will probably require upwards of $200 million to completely reconstruct the highway. We need to reconstruct portions of that highway that are in desperate need of it. That should be where the capital dollars go first.