Natural Resources committee  Thank you. My name is Hughie Graham. I am president of the Northwest Territories Chamber of Commerce. I'll give you a brief overview of the NWT Chamber of Commerce, the only pan-territorial voice for business in the Northwest Territories. Established in 1973, the NWT Chamber

Natural Resources committee  I couldn't agree more. The ability for the Government of Canada to increase the territorial borrowing limit when necessary is certainly critical to investing in major infrastructure projects in the Northwest Territories. One might only look at the proposed Inuvik to Tuk highway t

Natural Resources committee  I don't. I can only comment that I know that the exploration dollars that are going to be spent in 2012 are an increase over what they were in 2011. I don't have an exact figure as to what that accounts for in the GDP.

Natural Resources committee  I don't have that in front of me. I think it was in the neighbourhood of just over $100 million. This year it is set to be about $130 million.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, it is.

Natural Resources committee  Certainly. If we look at the creation of a Mackenzie Valley highway, that opens up a road to resources. Not only that, but if the Mackenzie Valley pipeline were ever to be constructed, that opens up the Mackenzie Valley as well to start to contribute to that pipeline. Definitely,

Natural Resources committee  I guess that's all a matter of perspective. If you see the federal government controlling the NWT's borrowing limit as setting a limit and not being able to increase it, then that's certainly an issue. But if the perspective is that the federal government is able to increase the

Natural Resources committee  No, I'm saying they should be a partner in the development of infrastructure in the Northwest Territories.

Natural Resources committee  I think at this point you can certainly look to a private-public partnership in order to do that. With the Taltson project as you speak, certainly untapped energy is spilling over the dam there, and if that's connected to a potential Northwest Territories-wide grid that doesn't e

Natural Resources committee  I don't think we see it that way in the Northwest Territories. The consultation took much too long. I think it was in the neighbourhood of seven years to consult with the aboriginal groups throughout the Mackenzie Valley and into Yellowknife.

Natural Resources committee  That's certainly part of it. If there were definitive timelines set for the joint review panel in order to get their work done, I think you would see that project under construction today.

Natural Resources committee  I think at that time, if the proponent were.... Let's say the markets didn't enable the project to be profitable, that would allow the proponent to stop or put the project on hold.

Natural Resources committee  Certainly aboriginal consultation is a major part of that. We're trying to say that industry is certainly ready and prepared to consult with the aboriginal people and that perhaps it's more of a Government of Canada issue. In any of the projects I've seen go through, any of the

Natural Resources committee  Correct.

Natural Resources committee  Certainly one might only look at the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, which has the aboriginal pipeline group as a major stakeholder. Land claims groups throughout the Mackenzie Valley were all offered equity positions in that pipeline and still are today, if they want to get on board.