New ideas proposed for Sahtu economy
Think tank recommends region turn focus from oil and gas
to alternative energies and tourism
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Monday, January 25, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The people of the Sahtu region need to start looking for other forms of revenue besides oil, natural gas and mining, according to a think tank commissioned by Alternatives North.
Alternatives North member and former MLA Bob Bromley reads from his notes during a media briefing on Jan. 19 in Yellowknife. Alternatives North commissioned a report that calls for economic diversification in the Sahtu region. - John McFadden/NNSL photo |
Two researchers from B.C. and Alberta-based PolicyLink have released a report on the Sahtu titled Economic Futures in the Sahtu Region.
The report's two authors gave a presentation on the report to the media on Jan. 19 in Yellowknife.
David Thompson, a researcher with PolicyLink pointed to Premier Bob McLeod's own words as the reason for the need for other economic opportunities to be explored.
"The oil and gas industry has packed up and left the NWT. We don't expect to see any exploration for probably 10 years," McLeod said as he campaigned for re-election last fall.
Thompson said the people of the Sahtu must start to give more thought to expanding its economy with sectors like agriculture, alternative energy, tourism, forestry, arts and crafts as well as
hunting, trapping and fishing.
"The question here is, where are the jobs going to be in the future? Are we going to be spending money now on resource extraction? Is that a risky investment? Are we going to be building roads and bridges to nowhere?" Thompson said.
For example, he said, forestry and wood products create 23 jobs for every million dollars invested, which is more than 40 times as many direct jobs per dollar spent in oil and gas extraction.
Thompson pointed to potato farming in Norman Wells as an example of agriculture innovation but also pointed out the current model for selling those potatoes is flawed because potatoes from the south are subsidized, making them cheaper than locally grown spuds.
Thompson's fellow researcher Diana Gibson said the idea is to build a local, sustainable economy from the ground up.
"It applies to a retail business. It applies to a restaurant. It applies to tourism operators. You want to be building an economy that sees economic circulation, that GDP stimulus locally," Gibson said.
"Smaller scale, locally owned businesses are the way to go."
The report did not specifically address the issue of building an all-weather road linking the Sahtu to the south, something residents and politicians have been recommending for years.
So far, the findings appear to be gaining some traction with at least two Sahtu business leaders.
"We hope that the approach of generating jobs in renewable resources and the local economy that are described in the report is endorsed by our governments," stated Arthur Tobac, business manager at Fort Good Hope based Ne'rahten Development Ltd. in an e-mail.
Deline businessman Danny Bayha agreed.
"The report provides an excellent starting place for Sahtu residents, parents, business leaders, educators and government to re-evaluate," he said.
"Respected elders from the communities need to be given an opportunity to help in crafting a way forward. We as parents and grandparents need to reclaim and fulfill our roles in educating our young folk."
