David Ramsay

I mentioned the regulatory change that’s going to be required. That is being conducted through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. For us, if you are going to be conducting business in the Northwest Territories, we have a Business Licence Act here in the NWT. It’s administered through Municipal and Community Affairs. It requires businesses operating in the Northwest Territories to obtain a business licence, which may provide ENR the means to measure the extent of the industry at this time.

We also have a requirement that employers must be registered with the Workers’ Safety and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With all the authorities in the Northwest Territories we continue to work with, of course, the RCMP, ENR monitoring these camps and where people are. There is no requirement for them to check in. Many of them are working for somebody else who would know where they’re at. The Member has a valid point and that’s something I’ll discuss with the department, and because we have had a lack of rain, although there is some rain in the forecast for next week, we’re hoping to get rain on Tuesday and possibly Thursday, which will help the harvest and help with potential forest...

Mr. Speaker, economic opportunity comes in all shapes and forms. This summer it is coming to the Northwest Territories in the form of morel mushrooms, a delicacy highly sought after by food markets around the world.

Ultimately, Mother Nature will have the largest role in determining the success of our harvest. However, under the right conditions, we anticipate this harvest could generate as much as $10 million in the NWT this summer.

The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment has been working to prepare NWT residents to take advantage of this opportunity and keep some of these revenues...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Tuesday, June 2, 2015, I will move that Bill 56, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2015, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We’ll continue to move on that path of getting a wilderness camp established here in the Northwest Territories. We will continue to work with partners, communities, leadership in the communities, as I mentioned earlier. I am committed. I know the department is committed to seeing this happen. We will find a proponent. The Member talks about training. We’ll work with somebody. We just have to find the right fit for the department. There are a number of safety and liability concerns, things of that nature. We have to ensure that it’s going to be done right, and we have to find the right fit for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for his question. We remain committed, through the Department of Justice, to establishing the wilderness camps and the benefit to having those camps here in the Northwest Territories. I should state that in the budget, currently we have $787,000 earmarked. We’ve had some difficulty in trying to identify proponents that can deliver the on-the-land program that we envision. In the meantime, we continue to work with other departments that are involved and trying to find somebody in the Northwest Territories that we feel confident can deliver the type of...

That could work if it was done at the entry to the Northwest Territories south of Fort Liard and also the 60th parallel. Most of the pickers that would come to the Northwest Territories from the South would, of course, come by vehicle, so we probably could get a good indication on numbers with a survey at those two locations. Some may come by plane. As far as surveying local pickers, that shouldn’t be too difficult to do either. So, again, it’s a fair idea and a good idea, and we will take that into consideration. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the department continues to work with our partners at ENR, at MACA, through the Department of Justice with the RCMP and other departments as we continue to try to get as much out of this morel opportunity as we possibly can. We can’t do this alone. There’s a number of agencies and other departments that are involved. Thank you.

Not only are we seeing an influx of pickers from western Canada who are showing up in the Northwest Territories, but through the work of the department we are trying to get local people interested in this harvest. That’s why we’re putting on the workshops. That’s why we’re doing the walking tours. It is going to have an economic impact. The pickers who do show up here are going to eat at restaurants, they are going to stay in our parks and campgrounds, they are going to buy gas and supplies from local stores. There is going to be an economic benefit to having them here, but we are trying our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s always a great day when we get students visiting us here at the Legislative Assembly. I have two great schools in my riding. One of those schools is St. Joseph School. I was mentioning to the kids out in the Great Hall earlier that I was a student at St. Joseph in Grade 6. So, it’s great to see them here visiting the Assembly today. This is a Grade 6 class. The teacher’s name is Amanda Delaurier. I’ll go through the students’ names: Jasmine Balsillie, Nolan Elliot, Aron Nathaniel Gomes, Avery Hacala, Tori Hamm, Keegan Head, Makayla Lane, Landon Lavers, Julia...