Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not aware of the Film Commission making any submission to this group that you're referring to.

That's disappointing that we did not participate in that obviously potential source of support for the North. I would like to also recognize early on that we have been increasing our support to the arts generally, both ECE and I believe in ITI. But here is an area where we really need more.

What work is being done to develop, in consultation with our fledgling film industry, a comprehensive set of useful supports for the industry's development?

We review, from time to time, the benefits from pursuing more active involvement in the film industry. I don't think we want to go to Hollywood and start producing blockbuster movies, but we look at it in terms of the benefits that would remain in the Northwest Territories, and any applications, we review on an individual basis.

I appreciate those comments. I think the Minister has raised a couple of very important issues. One is, what are the benefits? I think just a little bit of research would start revealing, especially on a full cost accounting basis, what the returns on investment in the film industry are. Especially in the way of promotion of tourism, local hiring and skill development, and quality of life, with the exciting opportunities it often presents, even though it may not be Hollywood. Our problem now is that films of the NWT are produced in Hollywood rather than right here, yet we have amazing Yellowknife films. France Benoit, with her recent production; Dennis Allen, Elaine Alexie, Alex Czarnecki, Terry Wolfe -- I could go on -- Alec Beaudin.

What resources does the NWT commission have and how is it developed to support this film industry?

The NWT Film Commission has no resources. It only can direct people who are interested in shooting in the Northwest Territories or asking for information. We can point them in the right direction.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Obviously I think there are major gaps here, especially if we compare our programs of support to our sister jurisdictions of Yukon and Nunavut. Will the Minister commit to examining their programs and to doing the research on value-added, the sort of full cost accounting range of benefits that we'll get from a film industry, and report back to committees and using that information to develop a very useful and directed program of support beyond just an empty shell like the NWT Film Commission?

We'd be pleased to do so. We do review on a regular basis. So we'd be prepared to look at it again.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement I talked about traditional foods that we could use in our communities, especially in our local stores. I want to ask the Minister...No, I would like to ask the Premier, as the leader of the government, about having some discussions with his Cabinet colleagues about whether this is possible. Imagine walking into a store in one of the communities and seeing on the shelf that there's caribou meat there or muskox or buffalo meat or fish. Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing to happen in the Northwest Territories?

Can the Premier, in terms of his discussions with his Ministers, confirm if this is something possible for the Northwest Territories to have?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would say yes, it is a possibility in the Northwest Territories. As the Members have raised in this House, we have an abundance of natural resources when it comes to fish in our lakes and the wildlife that take up the land here across the Northwest Territories. In fact, in the past when I was with the hunters' and trappers' committee, I recall a pilot project on the fisheries project up in the Mackenzie Delta that was tied to the fisheries group in Hay River and Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation, I believe it was. They did a bit of a pilot project there. At that time I recall asking why we didn't try to do something or packaging of things in the North instead of sending our products south. It is something I believe should be looked into a little more and making use of our own resources.

I'm delighted to hear what the Premier has to say that this maybe should be looked into more in terms of how we can go forward with it. Can I ask the Premier, in terms of his discussion again with his colleagues and certainly with Members on this side and maybe the committee in the Northwest Territories, how can we look at something that we could see come to realization within possibly the life of this government? How can the Premier provide his leadership in terms of guiding us to a realization in the North?

One of the ways we would start this discussion would be with the appropriate Ministers. I know I've had discussions with the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment around expanding some of those areas that we look at right now. We could incorporate the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Then we have to look at what other areas we would have to engage in; some of the federal government, their offices, as well, when it comes to how we can ship product around this country. This is something that has to be taken into consideration. More importantly, we have to sit down with Members to look at how we would take some of the resources that we use today and divert it to some areas where there's new opportunity that we could look at investing in.

I believe the Premier would really demonstrate his leadership in our communities. The community members would certainly fully support this concept here in utilizing our own resources here in our backyard. How do we bring that forward into our communities? I think the Premier is on a good thing. I would ask the Premier when maybe we could have some formal discussions with the Members on this side just to bring up the discussion to see if there's an appetite -- that reminds me, I'm hungry -- over on this side here to see if this is something we could really engage in.

As Members are aware, we are working on the next round of business plans for the next budget of this government. There are responses that will be going to our Minister of Finance and appropriate Ministers to look at other areas. If the Members felt strongly enough about this, I'm sure we could work with Members to see if we could incorporate anything into the upcoming budget cycle. Barring that, there is again still life in this Assembly where we can put the foundation in place to start to look at this and start to engage in some areas of opportunity for expansion when it comes to our natural resources.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

I would certainly look forward to further discussions with the Premier and his Cabinet colleagues and with Members from this side in terms of some introduction to the business planning process in terms of what we can do here. Certainly I would ask the Premier if he would put together some indication as to where we start looking at areas that could see some light at the end of this project in terms of the life of this government here.

I will commit to sit down with the Ministers to look at a time frame, timeline, options, and have that paper then brought forward to members of standing committee so that we can start some discussion as to how we would engage in this area.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Premier. It is in regard to a proposal he received along with the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs regarding a proposal for preliminary design and engineering work for an all-weather highway south of Inuvik in the Gwich'in settlement area, which he received from the president of the Gwich'in Tribal Council, Mr. Richard Nerysoo.

I'd just like to ask the Premier if he has had an opportunity to discuss this with his Cabinet colleagues and his federal counterpart, the federal Minister of Indian Affairs, and see if there is a potential opportunity to invest in some of this engineering design work for the Mackenzie Highway down the Mackenzie Valley from Inuvik south.