Agreed.
Debates of March 1st, 2001
This is page numbers 1397 - 1458 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairman.
Topics
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
I will just clarify the number. Total operations expense, $1,869,000. Agreed?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
Page 11-15, environmental protection services, grants and contributions, contributions, total contributions, $694,000.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
Resource management and economic development, operations expense, total operations expense, $32,631,000. Mr. Dent.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 28th, 2001
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Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a number of questions related to the activity summary on page 11-16. In the second last paragraph, the last sentence there says that the department provides guidance and resources to NWTAT and the Nunavut Tourism Association. I would have to ask why would the department be supporting the Nunavut Tourism Association?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Joe Handley Weledeh
Mr. Chairman, that is a misprint. We do not provide support to the Nunavut Tourism Association.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am happy to hear that. Another question I have has to do with investment and economic analysis. I have noted over the years that the amount of money that is given out to support northern businesses has declined rather significantly. I would like to ask the Minister, have the number of offices in the Northwest Territories that oversee this kind of operation and staff declined commensurately?
I know I have had a number of people suggest to me that in many cases in the Northwest Territories now, we have offices where they used to give out hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars where the cost of the office is probably $200,000 or $300,000. We still have the same number of employees in those offices, and they do not even have the value of what it is costing to run that office to give out in business support. Is that in fact the case?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
The Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Handley.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Joe Handley Weledeh
Mr. Chairman, the money has decreased. Part of that is because of decreasing support from the federal government. We have not had an economic development agreement since 1996. Over the past few years, there has also been pressure to transfer positions to the communities and they work for community governments. There have been a number. I do not have the exact number offhand, but there have been a number of positions transferred out of the department and are now working for hamlets, municipalities and so on.
The other initiative that we are undertaking this year is to combine our community economic development services division and our trade and investment sections. It will be five or six positions smaller during this coming fiscal year. Yes, there has been a gradual decline in a number of employees we have in the trade and investment, economic support side. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Under diamond projects, we are in between allocations of diamonds now. I am not sure how much more work could be done in the support for diamond polishing operations to get set up. What is on the table now for diamond projects?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Bob McLeod
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are a number of important initiatives that this division still has to accomplish. Primarily, there are two new diamond mines that are going to be starting up within the next two to three years. We have to negotiate value-added opportunities with them.
Also, we are still dealing with a number of issues with regard to Northwest Territories diamonds, with regard to trademarks, with regard to monitoring and enforcement, with regard to diamond certification and with regard to developing legislation to deal with diamond manufacturers licence.
As well, we have to work with the federal government so that we can ensure or try to impress upon the federal government the importance of developing federal legislation that would protect the secondary diamond industry.
Of course, we have to stay on top of best practices in the diamond industry because diamonds are an international business and are very competitive. It also requires a lot of expertise that is very difficult to obtain. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Do we maintain our contract with the diamentaires in Belgium to be on call to discuss issues that may come up in the industry?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Joe Handley Weledeh
Mr. Chairman, yes, he is still on contract. It is being renegotiated at the end of March. I expect there will be less need than what we have had in the current year, but that has to be negotiated. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Would the Minister care to guess as to how much less? This has been a very expensive contract in years past. I would think, given the amount of time that we have between now and when we can next expect to see a polishing operation come along, that there should not be a big call on this gentleman's time. Are we going to see a contract that is 50 percent or 25 percent the size that it was?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Joe Handley Weledeh
Our estimate at this time, assuming we can just continue business as usual in the diamond sector for the next couple of years, would be to have 40 to 50 percent less need for his services out of Europe. Thank you.