Question is being called.

---Carried

Back to page 12-31, Industry, Tourism and Investment, economic diversification and business support. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will give the Minister a chance to get his seat there. I do appreciate the Minister’s support for agriculture under the economic diversification business support side of things. I know he had a bit of a peak experience with the Polar Egg move. I just want to explore the Growing Forward Program a little bit. I understand it’s being renewed, Growing Forward 2. Of Growing Forward 1, what proportion of the funds – I don’t remember how much it was – was allocated to contributions to other parties and what was spent with our own programs internally, agricultural programs internally?

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Vician.

Thanks for those comments. I guess I’m particularly interested in the Small Scale Food Program. I know we have a very active program in that area and I’m getting a lot of feedback from the communities that our approach

hasn’t been the most productive. We tend to go into communities, choose the location of a plot of land, plow it up, plant it, then leave. I think the work that the department has been doing more recently and the partners that they’ve been supporting who are bringing in many other partners are actually working with individuals in the communities to be much more effective and I’m hoping that will actually characterize the work going forward. I would appreciate that breakdown, at least on what we spent internally versus what we made through contributions to partners. Just on that, if we have a community garden put in, say, Whati and we go in and do it and so on, is that an internal expenditure or is that considered a contribution to a partner?

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just to the Member’s last question, it could be both. It depends on which community and the dynamics of it.

On the Member’s other question, we are going to have more money through Growing Forward 2 and Deputy Minister Vician mentioned $1.2 million. So it’s about $6 million over five years. We need to come up with a plan on how best to spend that money. We’ve had discussions with the Territorial Farmers Association late last year and they have some really interesting plans on how to train folks from the smaller communities, bring them into Hay River, provide them with training and support so that they can go back into their home communities and train others. It sounds like a very good model and it’s something that as we move forward and negotiate this deal and plan how we’re going to spend that money, I think that’s going to be a part of it. We certainly will have some more money and I think it’s going to be exciting to put a plan together on how best to spend that money and we certainly look forward to working with the Members on EDI and other Members that are interested on how best to utilize this new funding.

Thanks to the Minister’s comments. I appreciate that. I think this is an opportunity to do some serious navel gazing to see how well we’ve done and how productive our work has been with internal efforts versus through contributions. I know there seems to be an effort out there that restricts contributions to projects that are less than an acre in size. To me, that’s completely crazy. It ignores the size of our communities and so on and I have to wonder where that’s coming from.

I think the Minister is on the right track and good, full discussions on this with all of our partners who are out there doing the real work would be a good way to go. That is all I have on gardening.

Maybe just let me throw in a comment on fisheries. I know that it is dear to some folks’ heart. The

Minister mentioned in discussions – I believe it was yesterday; it seems like several days ago – the Great Bear Lake trout. I completely agree with him. I have eaten at the same table as the Minister. That is a pretty amazing fish.

The difficulty is the Freshwater Fish Marketing Board. It becomes lake trout from somewhere in Canada. That has always been the problem. It’s still the problem. At one point, the fishers were going to get out of fishing and that was reversed, but it is such a dilemma that we are losing out considerably. We used to ship fish from Great Slave Lake to Chicago in the ‘60s and get over $1.50 a pound, big bucks in those days. Then along came this operation and that’s gone. So it’s a sad state compared to what our potential is. I look forward to any comments the Minister has on how we can do it. It is a tough one, I am the first to admit, but we do need to deal with it somehow. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, I really do appreciate the Member’s comments. I know I mentioned yesterday that, with the Great Slave Lake fishery, that is something that over the next two and a half years I think we need to put some real push behind. I have had meetings with the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. We need to be working together with the industry, both in Hay River and here in Yellowknife. I really think we can make some progress here. It is a resource that is right here. It’s at our doorstep.

I know Mr. Bromley has been here for a number of years. We used to be taking a lot more fish out of that lake than we currently are. I do believe there’s some room to move there. I’ve been encouraged with the discussions I have had with the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. Our efforts will be on how we can work together. I think that’s how we’re going to proceed on that.

It gets back to some of the dialogue that we’ve heard through the Economic Opportunities Strategy. The panel was down in Hay River. This is a subject that has been brought up repeatedly around Great Slave Lake, is the government has to be doing more with the fishery. Certainly I think you’ll see perhaps some recommendations in the EOS report when it does come back through the strategy. We hope to be able to get some solid recommendations that we can act upon. It is a resource that is right there.

As far as Great Bear Lake goes, when I was responding to MLA Yakeleya, there might be some other opportunities, perhaps not through the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation, for Great Bear trout. It is a specialized product. I can see it being a specialized product. There might be a certain market out there for that fish. I know it is a tremendous fish. Any time I get a chance to go to

Deline, I always have to try the trout from Great Bear Lake. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Next I have Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just have one question in this section. This question has to do with the BDIC. Section 41 of the NWT BDIC Act establishes mandatory review of BDIC programs every five years. The act came into force in 2005. Therefore, there should have been a review in 2010, which I don’t believe there was. We’re nearing the second anniversary of a potential review. Because the section does establish a mandatory review, maybe if we can get an update as to why the 2010 review didn’t happen and whether or not we’re going to see a review in short order. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, for a detailed response I will go to Deputy Minister Vician, but I just met with the BDIC board. There are going to be efforts underway to do the work the Member is talking about. For the specifics, I will go to Deputy Minister Vician.

Thank you. Mr. Vician.

Thank you, Mr. Vician. Mr. Dolynny.

Madam Chair, if we can get a bit more clarity as to the full scope of this review, given the fact that we are many, many years behind this review process. The Minister indicated that it has gone to the program review office. Can we get an indication here as to is this a full-scale review or are we looking at certain components within the framework of BDIC? Thank you.

Madam Chair, as I said, this act came into force in 2005. We have yet to see any full-scale review. We are talking about programs that were, from what I gather from the Minister`s comments, active programs. Can the Minister indicate to this House, has there been any programs that have sunsetted since 2005 that are no longer an active program and if those programs also be looked at within this process? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just so I’m perfectly clear, we believe that there are contribution programs and the Minister indicated that there are venture investment programs. Will they, too, be under the premise of this program review? Thank you.