Mr. Silver: I rise on behalf of the Liberal caucus and the Official Opposition to pay tribute to the 2014 Dawson City gold show. This week marks the 28th annual Dawson City gold show hosted by the Dawson City Chamber of Commerce on May 16 and 17. The gold show is North America’s largest industry and consumer trade show focused on the placer mining industry. The gold show encompasses the diverse and interconnected sectors of our regional economy with mining at its hub. Celebrating the gold show has become a springtime tradition. It is a great place to chat, to network and to share ideas with fellow miners and prospectors, and it is also a great opportunity for you to get your summer perennials from the Vogt farm. I have also had the privilege to attend the gold show many times, and it is a fantastic event.
This year there will be a number of Yukon mining industry leaders speaking: Ms. Thomas from Kaminak Gold, Mr. McConnell from Victoria Gold, Mr. Clarkson, Rich Thompson from Northern Vision and, of course, we have Anne Lewis, the chair of Yukon Women in Mining, and Dawsonite Isaac Fage from Ground Truth Exploration. I am sure that they will all have a great time in Dawson this weekend.
The gold show also offers up a trade show that provides a number of businesses the opportunity to showcase their products and their services, and for Dawson and Yukoners alike to meet and interact.
This year the Dawson City Chamber of Commerce, the Dawson City Firefighters Association, AFD and the Dawson City General Store will be hosting Bill Bowie night on Friday the 17th at the Palace Grand Theatre. Bill Bowie was a founding member of the Dawson City international gold show, a long-standing member of the Dawson City Chamber of Commerce and a volunteer firefighter. Many members heading to the gold show, I hope, will join us at this event in celebrating the contributions to the Dawson City business community and to Bill’s impact to Dawson as a whole.
Placer mining is an important historical and economic driver in Dawson, and the gold show is an excellent opportunity to showcase our industry. The Liberal Party believes that mining is an important component to our economy that can be balanced, that creates jobs and can protect the environment. With modern technology, sound regulations and public education, the placer mining sector can continue to thrive in the Yukon and continue contributing to the prosperous Dawson City community. The Liberal Party looks forward to a positive and healthy relationship with the mining industry for years to come.
On a final note, I will be most interested in Isaac Fage’s presentation. I had the pleasure of visiting Ground Truth’s compound last week with my good friends Tao Henderson and Chad Cote. Both are essential members of the Ground Truth team. I was absolutely astounded on Tao’s new remote control drilling unit. I’m sure that Isaac will be speaking to this and to his company’s Yukon-first accomplishments. When industry focuses in on local ingenuity, the results are remarkable. The product is not based on the bottom line. Companies like Dawson’s Ground Truth are revolutionizing the industry with a keen focus on environmental protection and maximizing local investment and involvement. This is no surprise to folks like Tao Henderson and Isaac Fage. It’s just the way that things have to be done.
When you put the future of the industry into the hands of locals, their ingenious ideas have future generations of Yukoners in mind. They have kids in the area and they have mortgages in the area. Yukoners will believe that we can have a robust industry that will protect the environment and put Yukoners first.
I’d like to thank all of the industry partners who make this important Dawson event possible every year and I look forward to many great gold shows in the years to come.
Dawson City is an international showcase created by locals, and it is an institution in the Klondike that I’m extremely proud of, and I look forward to seeing you all there this weekend.
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