Again in my Member’s statement, I suggested that ITI get out of the way and let the BDIC become all that it can be. When we had these discussions previously, it was supposed to be a comprehensive one-stop shopping for business services in the Northwest Territories. It hasn’t become that. It’s hidden in the shadows of ITI. I want to ask the Minister what direction he is giving ITI that is not allowing the BDIC to become all that it can be. They’re languishing behind here and we need to do something, especially now in these tough times.

I think what the Member is suggesting is to take all of the economic

development outside of the control of the ministry. As such he would suggest that all of the economic development programs be administered by an independent board which would only function by written directives from this government. I think the system is working quite well now where we have a BDIC, we have an Industry, Tourism and Investment department, and we have Community Futures. They’re all working together to promote economic development in the Northwest Territories.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back in October the Minister said, in a response to a question from me, that “we still feel that a protocol arrangement between ITI and BDIC is the way to go. It gives us the greatest flexibility, the greatest ability to meet the needs of our clients, which are the small businesses of the Northwest Territories.” I tend to agree with that statement, but again the BDIC has become irrelevant. All they do is prop up the subsidiaries and manage delinquent accounts. They do some work, yes, but I think they could be doing a heck of a lot more with the direction from this government, especially now in these tough times. Again I’d like to ask the Minister when we can have a discussion about what the role, the mandate and the future of the BDIC is going to be.

I certainly feel that BDIC is fulfilling a very important role. They’re managing a $45 million loan fund. Perhaps the Member should wait until we come forward with what has been proposed by the BDIC in terms of helping small businesses. I look forward to having discussion with him and to hear what suggestions the Member has for helping small business in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I spoke about youth needs in Tu Nedhe. I have questions for the Minister responsible for Youth, Mr. Robert C. McLeod. Does the Minister and his department have an inventory of youth, meaning do they know which youth are out there in the communities and what they have to support them in those communities?

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Youth, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not quite sure we have an actual inventory of youth. I think the department is well aware of who’s out in the communities and what their needs are. But as far as an actual inventory, I don’t think we have one yet.

My next question for the Minister is, has the Minister worked with other departments or his own department in developing a Youth Strategy, like the very beginnings of a Youth Strategy for the youth of the Northwest Territories?

Back in the fall session I did commit to having the department start a Youth Strategy. I am pleased to inform the Member that the Youth Strategy has been started. There’s a lot of work being done on it. We’re expecting to have it out to the MLAs for some feedback early this year.

My next question is that in the budget MACA had put some money in the budget for hiring youth workers. Has the Minister and his department started the process of hiring youth workers for this government?

There were two youth positions that were on the books and one has been hired for the southern part of the Northwest Territories. They are just working on bringing the one on board in the northern region.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s good news. Earlier in this session I had asked the Minister about budgets that are spread out through the other departments. My question for the Minister is has he begun the process of discussing youth budgets and youth activities with other departments such as Education, Health, Justice and Finance?

I have started having discussions informally with the other departments to see what kind of money they have in their budgets as far as youth go. Hopefully we’ll be able to follow up with that work and come up with a good figure as to how much money across government is dedicated to youth programs.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the issue of conservation and efficiencies in offices have been dealt with at a deputy level. Some departments, as identified within the Department of ENR, have a Green Team. Other departments have undertaken it in a different manner.

Thanks for those comments. Of course, it’s come to the observation of myself and other constituents and so on that work for the department, that there is quite an extreme range between departments, perhaps because of this lackadaisical approach. So there is an opportunity here for a more structured approach. I wonder if the Premier would commit to taking that on. Could he also tell me if we are measuring the gains that are being made by the Green Team and other department equivalents?

There is an effort to measure the results of the conservation work that’s going on in departments, mainly in ENR. As for coming up with more of a strategic or common approach amongst departments, I’ll definitely look at that and see if we can try to come up with an approach that energizes our departments to look more at it; maybe even a bit of a competition as to what we can do in trying to save energy in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you very much for that response. I think this sort of work does indeed energize a bunch of employees, certainly those that are into it. They appreciate the opportunity to contribute. I’m wondering if the Premier could -- and perhaps he already has -- look for opportunities to spread this information or make this widely available. There was a recent article in Bear Facts that was a good example of that sort of thing.

We will look at opportunities to make this known and try to set up a program and bring this more and more out to all of our employees and the public.