Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would be supporting this motion and I would ask that the Minister takes a strong message and this government takes a strong message to Ottawa in terms of supporting the northern people, especially in the areas of construction, mining, industry, tourism, hydro development that the North here is reaping with the wealth of resources. We need to invest strongly into our northern workforce.
This motion brings our people together from the North and the government needs to hear that on this issue we’re upfront and we’re united. We’ve seen from the Minister of Industry in terms of the imported workers that we’re getting from the South to work here in the Northwest Territories. Certainly people in the North want the jobs and the training and this is one example where things are going well. We’re not too sure where Ottawa is sitting in terms of continuing its funding.
All people in the Northwest Territories will benefit from this program. For example, in my region there
is a mining company just at the border of the Northwest Territories and Yukon with the intentions of putting that mine into production. They’re going to invest close to a billion dollars. This is Selwyn Resources. We need people in the Northwest Territories to work there. This would be a benefit to the people of the North. We would work closely with the Mine Training Society to help train these people for positions so they can go to work in the mine.
Also, about a month ago I was in Tulita and they had MGM, an oil company, that’s drilling close to Tulita and they’re hoping they will strike oil. That would also produce more jobs in our communities and just in our region here.
I wanted to let this Minister know, the government know that you can go down with this motion and ask the federal government to put in a strong program for the people of the Northwest Territories, give them some incentive to invest into the people in the North.