David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly I appreciate the Member’s concern over the Prospectors Grubstake Program, a program that was cut loose back in 2009. Today I believe we really need to send a message to folks that are out there prospecting, that the Government of the Northwest Territories is interested in the work that prospectors provide. The program historically was oversubscribed and I would certainly be interested in working with committee. I know the Member chairs the Economic Development and Infrastructure committee. I would certainly be interested in working with the committee to ensure...

Yes, Mr. Speaker, that is the case. We are going to continue to communicate that message to the public here in the Northwest Territories. Obviously the new law comes into place January 1st. So again, I’d encourage everybody to adhere to that new law, and over the holiday season especially if you could take the pledge to leave the phone alone, that would also help. Thank you.

Obviously the opportunity at Avalon, not just for the mine but for the processing and the value added, a component to that is of great value to the economy here in the Northwest Territories and those discussions certainly are taking place. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That discussion has to take place with my colleagues on the accessibility of land, but certainly the agricultural component is something that’s of value here. We need to ensure that we’re getting programming dollars out to the various communities around the Northwest Territories. Under the Growing Forward Fund that we have from the federal government, we’ve put that program into 29 communities across the Northwest Territories, mostly small vegetable garden plots, but we are working with the money that we have to get programs out there for people to avail themselves of...

The objective of the Arctic review was to gather information and knowledge through meaningful engagement and dialogue. The NEB did extensive consultation across the three northern territories, including more than 40 meetings in 11 communities, again, across all three territories. The review concluded with a week-long roundtable held in Inuvik during this past September so participants could engage in face-to-face dialogue on offshore drilling. Nearly 200 people attended the meetings that were held in Inuvik. Another 300 people logged onto the session via computer to listen to the live Web...

I share the Member’s enthusiasm. We do need to find a way forward. We have to, as I mentioned earlier, keep the momentum going, keep that positive attitude going in the area of looking for mineral development in our territory, both on the mineral side and oil and gas side. Certainly the three things that the Member talks about are interconnected. I have instructed the department to come back with a way and a means in which a program like the Prospector Grubstake Program can be re-established, and I look forward to again working with the Member and working with this committee to move this...

During the recently held Geoscience Conference here in Yellowknife I had the opportunity to speak to a number of folks who attended that conference and this was an issue that was brought to my attention. I have already instructed the department to come up with some ways in which we can bring this program back. When those options do materialize, I will certainly be happy to share them with the Member and the committee so that we can move forward with it.

I can’t speak for my colleague, the Minister of Justice, or the RCMP for that matter, and other enforcement agencies around the territory that would enforce the new law. Being that it’s new, though, I would imagine there’d be some period of more or an education type of enforcement that would take place so that people know that the law is in place. Certainly I think working with my colleague, the Minister of Justice, we can ensure that that happens. Thank you.

That’s an area that the last government spent a great deal of time on. There was some additional funding put into the SEED Program and that’s something, as we move forward and work through the business plan for the upcoming year and the next four years, is a discussion that we will have to have with committee and Regular Members of this House to determine how that should happen. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure to recognize a few visitors in the gallery today. I’d like to first recognize Mr. Tom Hoefer, the executive director of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines. Mr. John Ketchum, who is the GNWT manager at the Northwest Territories Geoscience Office. Both men were instrumental in the Geoscience Forum that was recently held and I thank them for that. Also with them this afternoon is Mr. Christian Bertelsen. He’s the acting director of minerals and petroleum with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. I’d also like to welcome this afternoon our...