Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to acknowledge the efforts of a leading NWT businessperson, Mr. Stefan Simek, and his company Ferguson, Simek and Clark, who have been involved in the development and contribution to cold weather climate engineering technology and construction. They established their firm in Yellowknife some 25 years ago and today they have a staff of some 60 people in Iqaluit, Whitehorse, Edmonton, but the majority of them are here in the NWT.
Mr. Speaker, they are significant contributors to our economic development with a well-deserved reputation in cold weather climate engineering and technology. Some 15 years ago, Mr. Speaker, the NWT government got involved in supporting trade missions within the circumpolar community, led by Mr. Simek and his company and their vision and drive.
They went on to gain experience in the Russian Federation through the design and construction of a Canadian village in the Republic of Sakha, and have developed an enviable reputation for their cold region construction projects within the circumpolar community.
Currently, Ferguson, Simek and Clark is investigating opportunities in the Chukotka region, which has a population of more than 80,000 indigenous people in small remote communities, very similar to our situation. They rely largely on reindeer herding in that part of the world.
Last month, FSC hosted a delegation from the Chukotka province of the Russian Federation to the NWT. This included Governor Roman Abramovitch and his colleagues from the Siberian Oil Company, Sibneft, and seven other members of their administration. The Governor and his party also travelled to Wekweti to observe community life, and the engineering and infrastructure that we have put into that part of the country. As a result of this visit, Mr. Speaker, FSC hopes to open up future construction opportunities in that part of Russia using NWT business expertise.
It is estimated that various circumpolar cold climate engineering construction projects like this have benefited Canada and the NWT to the tune of some $100 million. Like all developing economies, we need to diversify ours and exporting our technology is a great way of doing this.
Mr. Speaker, this government needs to be supportive of this kind of initiative, and I hope we can look forward in the future to the support of companies like FSC. Thank you.