Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Miramar Con Mine recently announced that they would close underground operations at one of the oldest operating mines in North America. Con is located in my constituency, Mr. Speaker.
The closure of Con Mine will have an impact on us all. Of course, the biggest impact will be felt in Yellowknife where significantly fewer dollars will flow into the local economy. However, if a significant number of laid off miners were to leave the North, the Government of the Northwest Territories transfer payments would suffer. That would have an impact on everyone in the Territories.
Mr. Speaker, our Statistics Bureau tells us that the salaries lost with these nearly 200 jobs disappearing will be $15 million a year. On top of that, Miramar has been spending an additional $24 million a year, much of that with northern firms.
Mr. Speaker, we hope that many of the affected workers will be able to find other jobs in Yellowknife, but if none of them could the Statistics Bureau estimates the closure would result in up to 350 direct and indirect job losses. So the potential loss to our transfer payments is staggering. We have to do our best to help these residents stay in the North.
Mr. Speaker, on top of losing their jobs, some 25 families may no longer have a place for their homes with the closure of the trailer camps on the mine site. They will face having to relocate or lose their homes just after they lose their jobs. The problem is made worse because there may not be enough vacant mobile home lots in town to move the mobile homes that are currently at the Con Mine trailer park. For many of the homes, relocation may not even be possible because of changes in the building code since they were installed that make them uneconomic to bring them up to current code, as is required when mobile homes are relocated.
So, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of those residents, this government must continue to try to help to work out a deal between Miramar, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the City of Yellowknife to let the residents purchase the land and stay where they are. My constituents in the Con Mine trailer camp have been working for years to try and work out a reasonable solution. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Vince Steen, has worked on behalf of the Con camp residents and was instrumental in bringing the management of Con Mine back to negotiations. I'd also like to recognize the efforts of Premier Kakfwi. Since the announcement of the closure, he has coordinated and chaired several meetings of Ministers and has brought the mayor, mine management and union officials together with Members of his Cabinet and senior staff to focus on the most important of people involved in this crisis: the affected Miramar employees, in particular the residents of the trailer parks.
Mr. Speaker, the City of Yellowknife has been a partner in discussions about the potential transfer of the land to the residents for quite some time. In spite of the upcoming election and the new council that will be elected, I hope the city will continue to work diligently to assist the residents of Con camp to keep their homes. Time is of the essence.
I also urge the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation to consider assisting residents of Con as he did the residents of the Husky Trailer Park in Inuvik. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.