Wally Schumann

The one thing that I can say is roundup this year was definitely -- it was cheaper than previous roundups that we have attended. As far as doing a cost-benefit analysis of our attendance versus bringing mining to the Northwest Territories, this is a long process for juniors to become a viable mine in the Northwest Territories. One in 1,000 actually becomes a mine, if you look at the stats in the industry. We will be working towards trying to bring those things forward. It will be when we see some development. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mineral roundup, as I said last week when we were down there, is an important mission for this government in the Northwest Territories. We went down there and engaged with a number of stakeholders, from prospectors, to mining companies, to juniors, to finance companies, and got input on a number of things around the table, many of which my colleagues on my side have helped me discuss with these people in industry. We need to figure out a way to bring new mining people to the Northwest Territories to create new mining opportunities for the residents of the Northwest...

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by Mr. Vanthuyne on October 14, 2016, regarding strategic economic investments, specifically the Canadian Federation of Independent Business report and how we are working to improve our score as well as reduce redundancy and improve the frontline services to small businesses.

The 2017 Red Tape Report Card published by the CFIB gives the Northwest Territories a grade "F," stating the next steps for the Government of the Northwest Territories should be to make it a priority to tackle meaningful red tape reduction.

The Department of Industry...

I thank the Member for his eagerness, but there is a process that we have in place here, and we're engaging Freshwater Fish Marketing Corp., we're engaged with the federal government at our level, we have our colleagues on the other side of the House through committee. There's a number of things that we need to do, and I think if time permitting let this process work its way through the system here for the next little bit. As I said, we're getting very close to coming to an agreement with Freshwater, with an MOU and a business plan that we start moving on. As he stated, we are both from Hay...

The important thing about the $1.4 million that's been carried over from last fiscal year to this fiscal year is for the Department of ITI to use that as leverage for the funding that we are putting forward to CanNor to give us the best potential to help build the plant in Hay River. That being said, the Member actually had two questions there, if we weren't able to make a deal with Freshwater on that moving forward, what could we potentially do with that money. Well, that would have to be a discussion along with myself and our colleagues in this House if we want to shift the priorities of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Mining Incentive Program is one of the things we heard around the table, as I said, along with a number of other things that I've previously mentioned. I will not commit to doing a cost-benefit analysis, just because I know going down there, meeting with industry, meeting with the Mining Advisory Board, the Chamber of Mines, the input that we get from a number of stakeholders, be it industry, like I said, or governments, or financial institutions, moving this file forward is to get down there and be in front of these stakeholders that want to look in the Northwest...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated, we had a number of meetings with different stakeholders on how we can improve the mining situation in the Northwest Territories. If we want to get into specifics, the solutions, I could stand here and probably talk about stuff all day from mining -- from staking in the industry in the Northwest Territories, to go online, to the regulatory process, to better geoscience information available, to junior mining companies, to socio-economic agreements, and how do we deal with Aboriginal governments moving forward, to land claims. As I said, our regulatory...

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by Mr. O'Reilly on October 20, 2016, regarding the hydraulic fracturing regulatory system.

I have worked with my colleagues in the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources and Lands, given their different roles in ensuring securities are in place for resource development projects. We have also engaged with the Office of the Regulator of Oil and Gas Operations.

I would first like to highlight that there is a polluter- pay system to ensure that government is not left paying for cleanups. The polluter-pay principle is fundamental to the...

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to provide an overview of the Department of Transportation’s efforts to capture economic opportunities at the Yellowknife airport.

The department is taking steps to make the Yellowknife airport financially self-sufficient. By running the airport more like a business, we will be able to make capital improvements, create jobs, and explore opportunities to drive economic growth across the territory. The Yellowknife airport is crucial to the territorial economy and creates 1,000 direct and 2,000 indirect jobs. We need to be sure we are capturing these opportunities...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Follow-up Letter to Oral Question 401-18(2): Slave Geological Province Transportation Corridor." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.