Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I asked Mr. Fred Koe that same question and he told me that for the Northwest Territories Development Corporation to begin a joint venture with any organization or individuals, the corporation would have to own 51 percent of the management. That goes totally against what I am reading here, "strengthen management at the community level". Take Fort Resolution, for example, the sawmill has been the forefront of a lot of discussion.
Since I have been elected, I have had meetings in the community with the leaders, with Mr. Koe, and what I have heard really disturbed me. I am concerned about management and the whole way the Development Corporation handled that project.
There was one manager after another going in there working for the Development Corporation. They set up an advisory board consisting of people from the community, who have an interest in the sawmill. The sawmill was the only major employer in the community. Now, Fort Resolution has experienced the most depressing economic times in 20 years.
The advisory board that was set up by the Development Corporation advised the manager and the president of the Northwest Territories Development Corporation and through him, the board, on the way the business was managed.
For example, the sawmill was $750,000 in debt, but the manager, who was working for the NWT Development Corporation, saw fit to go buy two new $650,000 loaders. You do not do that kind of stuff when you are in the hole.
Another example is the sawmill used local contractors to cut roads into timber areas for an average of $30,000. Another manager came in, did away with the local contractors, went to Hay River, hired a contractor to do the same work, and paid this individual and this company $350,000. Was the NWT Development Corporation trying to kill this project?
The local advisory board was making such a fuss, they were dismantled by the president of the NWT Development Corporation. He flew in there, dismantled it and said we have a manager in there doing the job.
Understanding and having the information on all of this, this statement does not hold water for me. I support what Mr. Krutko had spoken to on the amalgamation of all of these different corporations this government developed.
Will the Minister look at the NWT Development Corporation and provide this House with a track record of the joint ventures they are in, for the last five years, the success rate, the failure rate, how many dollars have been spent, how many people have been employed, how many of those businesses do they own 51 percent of and manage completely, the results of those businesses, et cetera? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.