David Ramsay

Mr. Speaker, the Minister talks about groups that are onside, but there are groups that aren’t onside, and I know he says we’re working on it. I’d like to ask the Minister today, how exactly is he working on bringing other groups onside with the decision to ban hunting in that area. Also, how is he going to accommodate the treaty right for aboriginal people to harvest caribou in that zone? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I find it hard to believe that as a government we still don’t have a firm consultation policy when it comes to dealing with aboriginal governments in our Territory, considering half the population here, Mr. Speaker, is of aboriginal descent.

Mr. Speaker, we have a duty to be fair. Successful consultation must include a process and a decision. Today across this country, governments are actively engaged with aboriginal peoples. This engagement undoubtedly includes a degree of accommodation and mitigation. Our government cannot continue to downplay the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to speak today on the Bathurst caribou issue. Yellowknife has the largest aboriginal population in our Territory. It is home to over 8,000 aboriginal people. I, therefore, have many constituents that are of aboriginal descent and, given the proximity of the communities of Dettah and Ndilo to the City of Yellowknife, the decision to ban hunting in the North Slave region is having a tremendous impact on some of my constituents.

It is very clear the science on the freefall of the Bathurst herd is compelling, but how do over 100,000 caribou disappear in just over...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’ve got some questions today for the lead Minister on the Strategic Initiatives Committee on the Cost of Living. I’d like to start off by saying, obviously, it’s an important issue to everybody across the Northwest Territories. Many of my constituents and everybody else’s constituents all face an exorbitant cost of living. I’d like to ask the Minister what specific areas is her committee currently working on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will take that as a no. I guess the other thing I wanted to ask the Minister is how often does the committee meet and whether or not she could share the agendas of the meetings with Regular Members. Thank you.

I’d like to ask the Minister, and that’s a good statement that she’s made today, but what specific initiatives has the Cost of Living Strategic Initiatives Committee taken to Cabinet for inclusion in the budget. She talked about a myriad of different things. Specifically, what has that committee taken to Cabinet for inclusion in this year’s budget? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to discuss an issue that touches each and every Member of this House and our constituents and that issue is the exorbitant cost of living in our communities, the single biggest issue facing this Territory. As Northerners, we pay more for everything. My perspective, Mr. Speaker, is obviously Yellowknife based. However, I have travelled to many of our smaller communities and have a solid understanding of the cost of living outside of Yellowknife and how these costs are affecting the livability and social fabric of our communities.

Mr. Speaker, it is little...

I would like to ask the lead Minister for the cost of living if her committee is taking a look at the Deh Cho Bridge Project and its potential impact on the cost of living to residents in the North Slave region and all communities serviced by air out of Yellowknife. Has that gotten to her committee? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is an excuse, I guess, but we could use it as an excuse or we could use it as an opportunity. We have opportunities, Mr. Speaker, especially in the value-added side of things. I would like to ask the Minister again where is the department and the government when it comes to an industrial strategy so we can attract value-added opportunities here in the Northwest Territories to diversify our economy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister talks about the departmental contributions. Like I said in my statement earlier today, just last year 15 of these clients received more than $100,000 in contribution financing. That’s two-thirds of the entire value of ITI’s contributions and not one of them, zero, was a private business. I would like to ask the Minister how do we get more funding in the hands of private business so we can create jobs and diversify our economy here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.