Thank you. We are on page 11-17, resource management and economic development, Mr. Delorey.
Debates of March 6th, 2003
This is page numbers 541 - 578 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 6th 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
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 561
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 561
Paul Delorey Hay River North
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I won't pursue this much further, but I would like to know exactly what kind of dollars we are expending or have earmarked to pursue this very important sector in our economy. When we say we are going to try to see what we can do as far as making it grow and setting it up to be a viable growth industry, do we have dollars attached to this panel that they can use to promote this industry? Do we have a sum of money or is it just wrapped up in a little bit of one department whenever someone can put a little bit of time into it, or do we really have some dollars? To try to get an energy strategy going, we put $2 million towards it. We know there are dollars there and we put someone in charge of doing just that. What are we doing for the manufacturing industry?
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 561
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Minister Antoine.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 561
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
We are funding this initiative through existing dollars with the investment and economic analysis, the pot of dollars that we have in resource management and economic development. Also, there are existing dollars available to help the different projects through different means through our funding arrangements, as well as through the Dev Corp. As for identifying a pot of dollars to make this initiative go, we would like to have this policy developed and then from there, we would determine what exactly is required. At the present time, there are sufficient dollars in our existing pots to do what we have to do. Thank you.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 561
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Mr. Delorey.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 561
Paul Delorey Hay River North
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to ask if there is any possibility of seeing the advisory panel's report on manufacturing to get an idea of timelines that the department is looking at between now and when they think they might be prepared to come forward with a strategy for manufacturing in the NWT. Are we looking at a year or two years? What kind of timelines are we looking at?
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 561
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Minister Antoine.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 561
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
As I indicated to the Member, the draft report is in, we are reviewing it right now, but we will be releasing it fairly shortly within the next two weeks. As for the full implementation, once the draft policy is reviewed and released, we would like to go through some consultation that would allow some time for input. We would like to see it ready for implementation in June. Thank you.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 561
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Mr. Delorey.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
Paul Delorey Hay River North
Just one last question on this and that is what type of an advisory are they going to be putting out to inform businesses? Is it going to be personal contacts, through phone, through newspapers? Is it going to be through pamphlets put out? How is the government going to approach getting input from residents or different businesses if they are interested in the manufacturing sector? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you, Minister Antoine.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Part of the initiative here is developing a communication plan. We anticipate that the two associations, the construction and manufacturing, will probably use existing communications to inform their members. For others, we will be doing it as RWED. So we will be using all the different mediums. Thank you.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Page 11-17, resource management and economic development, operations expense, total operations expense, $36.270 million.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
Some Hon. Members
---Agreed
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Page 11-19, resource management and economic development, grants and contributions, grants, total grants, $365,000.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
Some Hon. Members
---Agreed
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Page 11-23, total contributions, $11.653 million. Ms. Lee.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
Sandy Lee Range Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just would like clarification on the diamond industry funding on page 11-21 where it shows $150,000 for the last two fiscal years, but we see $20,000 this year. So I would like some information on what this program was about and why the reduction this year. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you, Mr. Antoine.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you. There is a reduction because the different businesses that have developed and are in position now are expanding, they have joined with bigger partners and operators. The amount of dollars isn't really required. What we've done is we used $130,000 of the contribution funds to create the position of a diamond certification officer. So, that is the reason for that. Thank you.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you, Ms. Lee.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
Sandy Lee Range Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, am I to understand that position does not exist anymore? Also can I get information as to what were the criteria to qualify for funding under this program? Thank you.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Minister Antoine.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
I will start with the criteria for this funding. The criterion is to fund anything that would help in the diamond industry, right from travel assistance to financial assistance of any sort. There is a criterion that the department uses, but it's basically to assist the diamond industry. The $130,000 that was taken out, we've created this diamond certification officer in the department. Thank you.
Bill 3: Appropriation Act, 2003-2004
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 562
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you, Ms. Lee.