Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on January 30 of this year, my constituent Jean Piro passed away peacefully, only weeks away from her 94th birthday.

Mrs. Piro came to Yellowknife in 1947, and two years later she married her husband, local businessman Mike Piro. In her 70 years in the NWT, Jean had many jobs and was an active member of many clubs and associations and even brought a bowling alley to Yellowknife.

It is without a doubt that Jean's greatest achievement is the roots she laid down with her four children, Gordon, Brian, Lorie, and Sandra, and her many grandchildren.

Jean was one of...

Thank you. Is ITI's sole involvement in the development of this plan setting reduction targets for BDIC? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The reduction of the BDIC annual contribution in the amount of $477,000, what is the rationale for that cut? If the Minister can answer. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and before I go any further I just want to acknowledge the presence of Mr. Tom Jensen, the Deputy Minister for ITI. I believe this is his first appearance as a witness in this Chamber.

There's a lot to cover in this section. We've talked a bit about SEED. I'd like to talk a bit about the agricultural strategy. We heard from the Department of Lands -- the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment heard from the Department of Lands, and they indicated that there may be some difficulty in this department's ability to properly access land for agricultural...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think that this is a good example of one of our budgets where we see a lot of numbers in the Minister's opening comment that have been unchanged for many, many years. The SEED Program, the Mineral Incentive Program, these are very useful subsidies to industry that remain stubbornly resistant to investment from, again, a government that's primarily driven by fiscal reduction targets and fiscal strategy rather than investment in growth, which is the source of the great budget debate we find ourselves in.

There are some troubling cuts. There are cuts to the Business...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If this fund was enriched, could the commercial fishery expand their operations outside of the summer and increase their capacity and their productivity with a greater subsidy? Thank you.

I do appreciate that the Minister is taking a firm position on this, and arguing that position. Just as a matter of course, I do not agree with it. I think if we are going to find those redundancies that we can live with, they should be redundancies that are based, or reductions that are based on evidence. Again, we see that the Minister does not have that information at his fingertips. The strategic planning process, what is the criteria for that? Is the criteria for that broad statements of fiscal responsibility and political direction like that, or is it a strategic plan that is based on...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is that all-season operations or only summer operations? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today, my honourable friend, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh asked about a program evaluation for the Teacher Education Program. I'd like to ask the Minister of Education: has a program evaluation been done, yes or no? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So accounting mechanics aside, the intention is to invest this money in the commercial fishery in Hay River? Thank you.