Can the Minister assure me that no more standing offer agreements will be awarded by this government without clearly identifying what the northern content and the requirement for northern content is, and for procuring the services from northern contractors, that no more standing offer agreements will be let until this matter is resolved?

We hear the concerns from the Member for Hay River South very clearly and it’s something that we’ll take under consideration.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

At what point and through what vehicle, by what method do we Members on this side of the House get to be involved in the revision of the procurement policies of this government to ensure that Northerners get the work and get the jobs?

I think as we move forward there will be ample opportunity for Cabinet to work with the Regular Members to do just that and I look forward to the Regular Members’ participation in that policy review that will take place. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like I made a speech on my Member’s statement about the fishing industry in Hay River, I’d like the Minister of ITI to maybe let me know if they’ve had any discussions about opening the NWT borders. We have, throughout the country, everybody wanting to open the borders through NAFTA and through European agreements. Are they looking at that availability for fishermen to sell out to the other provinces?

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for the question. I think the department is very interested in finding a way to do just that. The FFMC has gone through a corporate review. There’s a meeting in a couple weeks’ time where some of these recommendations will be presented. There are jurisdictions looking to pull out. Back in 2010, the NWT fishermen voted to stay within that organization. I do think that, going forward, we need to find a better way to get things

done and work with the fishermen and the industry here in the Northwest Territories to maximize those opportunities. Thank you.

I’m aware of the discussion on Freshwater. My concern is the availability to allow fishermen in the Northwest Territories to go out on their own and market in those areas. Some believe that BC and Alberta may be areas to expand. My question is: Has the department been working on other marketing of the fish along with Freshwater, I guess?

ITI has been working on promotion and support of commercial harvesting, processing, and marketing of fish and meat program that we have here in the Northwest Territories. It’s designed to increase the availability of locally produced healthy food in NWT communities. We’ve done some of that work such as a holding facility and processing facility in Kakisa. We’ve also renovated a building at Wool Bay and are looking at mobile processing facilities in the Sahtu. Any opportunity that we get to enhance the ability for people that are harvesting fish in the Northwest Territories to get it to not just a market outside the Northwest Territories but to markets here in the NWT, we’re interested in pursuing that. Thank you.

The short answer is yes. This is an important aspect and will be an important aspect of a future economic development strategy here in the Northwest Territories that would include an industry like the fishing industry, again, so we can maximize the opportunities and get fish to market both locally and south of our border.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement today, keeping the Minister of Transportation and ITI, ITI in this case, busy today. I’d like to start by seeking the Minister’s statement of principled support for the issue I raised earlier. I know ITI’s SEED program identifies value-added manufacturing as a priority sector for program support, so promoting value-added manufacturing is definitely government policy. In this case, does the Minister see the diamond jewellery industry as value-added opportunity and support the development of training

programs in the skills of producing fine jewellery incorporating our world-class diamonds with our northern artistic talent? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Going back to the election campaign in the fall, in my election material I had specifically stated in there support for the northern jewellery manufacturing industry. I think, going forward, we have to try to find a way to create jobs in the small communities. In my mind, jewellery manufacturing is one way to accomplish that. They’ve met with a great deal of success in looking at jewellery manufacturing in northern Russia, in small communities. I think, you know, if we put our minds to it, we can come up with a program that’s going to allow us to move forward with a jewellery manufacturing program. Maybe we could start in one community and try to branch out from there. Some of the best jewellery makers in the world started out as carvers. We’ve got an abundance of those here in the territory and very talented ones. Thank you.

I look to the Aurora College calendar and I see a traditional arts program which offers a three-month hands-on course providing the skills to create and market high quality Aboriginal arts and crafts for local, national and international markets, so again, I see an opportunity here for a similar diamond jewellery program, and apparently the Minister does too. I’m glad to hear it. I appreciate that support.

Will the Minister commit to working with his colleague, the Minister of ECE, perhaps including inquiries of Harry Winston Diamonds on the development of a diamond jewellery skills program right here in the Northwest Territories? Mahsi.

I believe in getting some work done very quickly on that and working with my colleague not just in ECE but my Cabinet colleagues. We’re going to have to try to find money as we go forward. If we’re going to do a pilot project or something to that effect, we’ll have to work with the Members and come up with a plan on how best to start that jewellery manufacturing. I could see it including diamonds and also other metals that are produced here in the Northwest Territories. I look forward to doing that. It’s something I really believe in. Thank you.

Thanks again to the Minister for those remarks. Of course, the reason I’m focusing on diamonds is because we are already unsuccessfully spending millions and millions of dollars on trying to get a value-added industry, so I’m talking about taking some of those unsuccessful dollars and shifting them into a successful program. Again, the Minister mentioned it’s tough to do this.

You know, a real partner might be Harry Winston, because, of course, if we were successful they’d be selling a lot more diamonds.

Of course, our greatest resource here is the artists. Will the Minister commit to ensuring that there is a wide invitation and support for the involvement of our artists from all regions in the investigation and development of any programming? Mahsi.

You don’t develop a program and get it off the ground without seeking the input of the stakeholders involved, and that would include, obviously, the artists in the territory. Again, it’s not something that is going to magically appear in all the small communities out there. I think we have to be strategic in how it’s done and try to at least get something started. Again, I do look forward to doing that. I’ve had some initial discussions with the department and we have to find a way forward. I thank the Member for raising those concerns in the House today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks again to the Minister. I know that he’s onto this. Finally, in the consultation aspect of it, obviously we need to produce products that meet the needs of our sales outlets. In developing any training program we need to start modestly, perhaps one or two artists from each region or something, as the Minister said. Will the department include consultations with the retailers and wholesalers so that skills can be developed to produce a range of products that are relevant and well designed for the marketplace? Mahsi.

Yes, I think that’s an important part of this or an aspect to this. We need to talk to industry, as well, in preparation for a program, a pilot project, whatever it may end up being, but certainly, they’ll play a part in that. Thank you.