Bob McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly agree with the Member that small businesses in the Northwest Territories are the backbone of the Northwest Territories economy. Not only do they provide a value-added, they also provide employment and growth.

Two of the things that we have to guard against in the Northwest Territories are the high cost of doing business and leakages. One of the best ways to reduce the high cost of doing business is to reduce red tape. The Member quoted CFIB, and CFIB also said that 60 percent of the Members felt that we could reduce red tape by 10 to 15 percent without...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In a modern world filled with laptop computers, cell phones and iPods, traditional life skills such as trapping and boat building that have served our people so well in the past are in danger of being lost. But the Government of the Northwest Territories is taking action to ensure this doesn’t happen and that is why I want to take a few moments to talk about the success of our Take a Kid Trapping Program.

The program began in 2002, and from the beginning, it’s been built on one simple premise: learning by doing.

The program is a cooperative effort between the departments...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Government of the Northwest Territories Contracts Over $5,000 Report, Year Ending March 31, 2010. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Northwest Territories Meeting and Conference Planner 2011. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we have been working very closely with the outfitters and how to spend this money. For the most part, the outfitters have availed themselves of these funds. We have also put in business plans to continue this funding. We look forward to being able to work with the outfitters in future years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For some time now we recognize that there has been a shift in the tourism priorities and what areas that the younger generation would be participating, and we recognize that the so-called consumptive tourism, the interests in hunting and fishing were declining. We undertook surveys to determine where the new demand for tourism would be focussed on. Our research has indicated that most people are interested in adventure tourism, ecotourism, so we introduced a program, a tourism diversification program, in 2007-08, to help existing outfitters begin to diversify into other...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 9, An Act to Amend the Tourism Act, be read for the third time.

Mr. Speaker, I wonder how many programs the Member would like me to start. I already indicated that we have the Tourism Diversification Marketing Program. We also instituted the Sports Outfitter Marketing Program and outfitters are accessing those funds and there is still funding available this year. A lot of the outfitters are using those funds to put their lodges in care and maintenance so that they can keep them operating. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, since time immemorial, the people of the Northwest Territories recognized that the population of caribou and wildlife was volatile. It was recognized in the Northwest Territories Act where barren-ground caribou has been designated as game endangered of becoming extinct. Our own Wildlife Act recognized that and it developed a hierarchy of priorities for the use of wildlife. Commercial tags for caribou were the lowest priority.

Now, having said that, I already told the Member that we established a tourism diversification market and fund which we have spent $4.5 million dollars since...

As I said, we are spending money on sports hunt outfitter marketing programs for both the caribou and the polar bears. Thank you.