Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon and welcome back, Members. Over the past eight months I have been closely following the Giant Mine situation, Mr. Speaker. Last week we heard that a potential buyer had possibly been found for the mine. Although no official announcement has been made regarding the identity of the buyer, the word on the street is that it is Miramar Mines. The exact details of the purchase between the receiver Price Waterhouse Cooper and the buyer has not been disclosed. What is of concern to me is the status of Giant Mines 278 employees. All along I have advocated for the continued operation of the mine for several reasons.
1. The 278 jobs at Giant Mine have a significant effect on the regional economy. Every job at Giant Mine supports another job in our local service industry.
2. The proven gold reserves at Giant Mine make it a buyable operation, as far as I have been told and that there are good reserves there.
3. The operation of Giant Mine contributes significantly to the revenues in the form of royalty payments to the NWT Power Corporation, revenues from the collection of employee payroll tax, income tax, federal taxes and so forth.
4. The retention of those employees as northern residents contributes substantially to our transfer payments that we receive from Ottawa.
From what I know about the deal today, it could potentially call for the termination of all employees at the mine, both hourly and salary.
My concern is the need for proper succession and that is the concern, of course, of the 278 employees there. Is there any guarantee that the termination process will honour the proper notice of termination, severance pay, topping off of pensions, pension payouts and transfers, priority hiring, retaining and retraining options. I need to know if and how our government has been consulted along with the Department of Indian Affairs in the receivership process? What are our governments prepared to do to ensure proper succession, fair treatment of employees and the retention of as many jobs as is feasible and possible? If we lose all 278 jobs, then this deal is disastrous for us here in Yellowknife, regionally and for the Territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
--Applause