Ronald Bonnetrouge

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and mahsi to the Minister. Mr. Speaker, no one is doing anything with furs in the Northwest Territories. The Fort McPherson Tent and Canvass is not using the furs in their products. The Dene Fur Cloud Shop in Fort Providence is using rabbit pelts imported from out of territory. I see potential industries for our territory in the creation of mitts, gloves, vests, coats, hats, and the list is not exhaustive. All this with the use of furs caught in the NWT.

Will the Minister take a closer look into this possibility and develop plans to making this initiative a reality? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke at length of the need to assist many of our residents who don't know where to turn for income. The school students have the Take a Kid Trapping program, but many of our young adults, or the young men, who don't excel in school and didn't leave the community don't have the luxury of such a program. Can the Minister of ENR commit to tailoring a trapper training program for our young adults? Mahsi.

Community government retrofits, $200,000, to perform energy audits and retrofits to community government buildings. I'm just wondering if these are just government buildings, or are they available for NGOs and local businesses? Mahsi.

Okay, so the Minister's clarifying that they incorporated solar panels for their plans. It's interesting stuff.

I'm wondering if the extent of this program or look to assist the Housing Corporation and MTS in reducing? Mahsi.

I think I wasn't clear on that one, but it's nice to know that you're working with other departments.

I was wondering if anyone else, besides government departments, access funding like this or you have funding for them, like community governments, community local businesses? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Madam Chair. I was interested in your biomass energy. I think that's $200,000 I think you have. It's supporting new initiative to assist increased use of wood burning technologies.

I'm just wondering if there's other departments that access this funding or your department helps other departments? And I'm speaking about like the Housing Corporation, and utilizing some of this. Mahsi.

Will the Minister consider this contract services for the future? Mahsi.

And your application process, I'm just thinking about the small communities where we never get anything like this in there because of the, I don't know, the limitations with the amount available organizations or volunteers or whatever it is, or for that matter qualified people. Your application process, I'm just wondering if there's been any applications, any interest from the communities like Fort Providence, Kakisa, all the small communities I'm mentioning about? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at that time we were specifically talking about wood pellet boiler systems for Housing Corporation units in the outlying communities as a possible way for savings through the fuel bills and the bottom line for the budget of the GNWT. And I really hope this energy plan, as I stated before housing is always referencing repairs for efficiencies, like sealing doors and fixing broken windows, but this one here I wanted it to be a wood pellet boiler energy action plan. I'm wondering if the Minister would commit to that. Mahsi.

Mahsi for that. I'm just wondering, you know, if we can look at increasing that, because even for us as we get CAs and all government positions that I think I'm aware of, they start at about 30 bucks an hour. So I just wonder if there'd be consideration for in order to have a real good program, you know, and people want to be committed to it, right? So if we don't, you know, put the money there, you know, it won't be as successful. That's what I would think anyways. Mahsi.