Yes, Mr. Chairman, there is. What I might suggest, though, is at some point in time we can look at mining and get in front of the standing committee and the Regular Members just to give you an update on where projects are at. In the past six months I’ve been at the Cordilleran Round-up in Vancouver and also to PDAC with some of the Regular Members, as well, and I’d be more than happy to give Regular Members an update on the advancement of mining projects around the territory. We’ve also got the Mineral Development Strategy, which we’re going to pursue; also the Economic Development Strategy. So there are a lot of exciting things happening and I think if the Members want an update on where projects are at, we’d be more than happy to sit down with the committee to go over what those prospects are.

Also on the other side of that, the prospects in the area of petroleum development in the territory is an exciting opportunity, as well, and I’d be more than happy to provide that to the Members as well. Thank you.

Thank you. I’ll stay tuned until we get to the EDI meeting when the Minister has that type of information coming forward.

The question I have now for the Minister is one I spoke to earlier, about the strong support of I have for the Minister to support our local fur trading program, Take a Kid Trapping program, and the amount of support the communities have seen in Colville Lake and some of the smaller communities. This program is very valuable, especially in the lifestyle. So I want to just give more of a comment and tell the Minister that we support it and we look forward to this program. It’s doing a lot of good for our kids. It’s showing them that this government is supporting their program. So that’s what I wanted to say to the Minister.

Again, I appreciate the Member’s support. He’s shown unwavering support for the traditional economy since the time that I’ve been a Member. We’re happy at ITI to advance the traditional economy through programs like Take a Kid Trapping and the CHAP program. We’ve seen unprecedented growth in fur prices. Just for example, beaver up 111 percent, mink up 36 percent, muskrat up 84 percent. There’s tremendous opportunity for trappers around the Northwest Territories. We’ve doubled the grubstake and money that we can offer upfront to trappers in the territory. We’ve doubled the amount through the CHAP program, the Community Harvesters Assistance Program. We’re doing what we can to encourage people to get involved in the traditional economy through trapping and it’s been very successful.

As I mentioned earlier, the Ministers I’ve spoken to in the Yukon certainly like the program that I told them about while I was there and would certainly like to have programs like we have here in the NWT in the Yukon when it comes to trapping. Thank you.

Thank you.

Page 12-31, activity summary, economic diversification and business support, operations expenditure summary, $22.222 million.

Okay. Page 12-32, activity summary, economic diversification and business support, grants and contributions, grants, $625,000.

Contributions, total contributions, $13.043 million, total grants and contributions. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to comment briefly on the SEED p rogram and the needs of the film industry. There’s been some work done to enhance support for the film industry and I think it’s been greatly appreciated, but there still seems to be a lot of frustration in that industry for the lack of the kind of support that they need.

I know this Minister supports the film industry. The 16

th Assembly did some work in that area, but as

the Minister knows, there is huge potential for business development here and for economic benefits that roll through the Northwest Territories and we have some really wonderful examples of successes. Often, though, they have to be based outside of the Northwest Territories and they still remain few in number, whereas we have a lot of talented artists that want to get better programs on the ground. Is there anything this Minister is contemplating to respond to that ongoing

expressed need and frustration for the film industry? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the Member’s comments. I do certainly support the advancement of the film industry here in the Northwest Territories and take any and every opportunity to promote the shows that have been filmed here when I am in other jurisdictions. When I was in Whitehorse, this is a competitive industry and certainly was impressed with what they had to offer in the Yukon.

Going forward I think it’s very important that as the Minister I’ve worked with the Regular Members to develop and advance what we have to offer here in the Northwest Territories. So as we move through the summer and then get into business plans in the fall, I’m really looking forward to sitting down and discussing some options for us to advance the film industry here in the Northwest Territories and that’s going to happen by working with the Regular Members.

That’s all, thanks.

Moving on to questions, we have Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to make quick comments. The Great Northern Arts Festival, it’s $25,000 last couple years and that’s what they’re getting this year. I just wanted to ask the Minister if that’s a fixed contribution agreement with the society or is it just what this government is allocating to them.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In addition to SEED it’s one specific contribution.

I’m not sure how much SEED money the society goes after, but just due to the increased costs of flying that we’ve been seeing lately, the increase to accommodations, the low number of tourism in the community of Inuvik, I think this would be a good opportunity to help our artists out in the Northwest Territories. Even partner territories, as they come up and showcase their artists, their talents, and the work that they do. It will also bring increased money to the economy of Inuvik. It also would create income for some of our artists. Would the Minister be willing to entertain an increase in the contribution of that $25,000 in future years?

The $25,000 that’s there goes directly to helping to organize the event. The various artists that display their wares at the arts festival would access funding through the SEED program. Whether or not the Great Northern Arts Festival receives anything more than the $25,000,

again that is something I would be willing to sit down with Members and discuss.

I just appreciate the comments and the willingness to sit down with regard to the contribution. We’ll just take that further and when I go back I’ll have a meeting with the society and get a little bit more information to them. Thanks for the comments and the answers.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. More of a comment. Moving on to questions, I have Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On page 34 the agricultural development infrastructure. I think this is a very important contribution and I’m wondering what sort of monitoring the department is doing in terms of our food security and progress on this initiative. I think we’re starting to realize that this is an important industry and needs our support and has a lot of potential for meeting our needs in a way that also provides northern jobs and so on. If I could just get some idea of how we keep our finger on the agricultural pulse.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I certainly share the Member’s enthusiasm when it comes to growing – pardon the pun – our agricultural industry here in the Northwest Territories and supporting the local production of fish and meats. Very important for us here in the Northwest Territories.

We’ve had some real opportunity I think through the Growing Forward Program funding that’s come to us from the federal government to advance initiatives around the Northwest Territories. We’ve got the Small Scale Foods Program in northern agri-foods, inter-settlement trade, traditional harvesting and commercial wildlife. Also, I’ve seen it first hand when I travelled to the Sahtu and was on a tour with Doug Whiteman in the Sahtu, a gentleman who grows tons of potatoes in Norman Wells and raises chickens. He also processes wild meat at a facility in Norman Wells. It was very, very impressive. That type of ingenuity and hard work, if it could make its way into a number of other communities around the Northwest Territories, I think that would really help on the cost of food in some of our smaller communities.

When I was in Fort Simpson just the other day with Mr. Menicoche, we were staying at the same bed and breakfast as two young ladies who were working for ITI as part of the Community Gardens Initiative and they were on their way to Wrigley to plant a garden for the community. It’s efforts like that that I think will make a real difference. On the food security issue, I’ll go to Deputy Minister Vician just for an update on that.