Brendan Bell

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We will certainly have these discussions in every region with the regional authority. I can't and I don't know if we're currently in discussions, if our regional staff are currently in discussions with relation to Husky Lake, but I will certainly find out for the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just in terms of granting the licence, how will we ensure the consultation is taking place, is that the question?

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I can see from the Premier’s applause that he as well has seen this first hand, the telegraph wires and other left-behind articles from the ‘40s. It’s important that we get this cleaned up. Obviously we want to have this issue addressed before we talk about land transfer. We think it’s a federal responsibility. We’re making that argument and that case that they in fact should clean it up. So we’re in discussions in that regard. We’ll have more of those as we meet in November. I can say that before we take over transfer of this land, we want to have that addressed. Thank you.

Not specifically to this section, Mr. Chairman, but I will restate the commitment that we will come back with the regulations package and we will sit down with committee. I've also made the commitment to committee to talk about the communications plan; that holds. We will make good on that commitment. Specifically, and this will be developed in regs, how we come up with some vehicles that deal with those who are negligent in remitting fees to the government, we've got some ideas and we're going to put those down and consult on those and come back to committee on that respect specifically....

Thank you. I appreciate the Member's thoughts and input. I think that's very valuable. I think there were a number of good points that he made.

To the point about effectively what would, I guess, constitute access and benefit agreements when it comes to tourism and our outfitting operators, there's no reason that that couldn't happen with new operations now on, say, Sahtu lands in your region. Mr. Chairman, that arrangement could certainly be made. It is more difficult to go back with people who have had licences in the past and have some expectation of certainty in their business model...

Mr. Chairman, there is no section in this bill or envisioned in the regs where we speak to compensation, per se. I would say that it’s ENR who are responsible for the issuance of tags. As we have seen recently with some of the plans for caribou, some of the concerns we’ve had, the subsistence hunting and harvesting takes precedence. That’s the first interest that has to be protected far before tourism outfitting. Mr. Chairman, I imagine that will continue to be the practice. Obviously we have great deference and legal deference to the co-management boards in the areas and they really are the...

Mr. Chair, thank you. With me today; Doug Doan, ADM, Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment; Rebecca Veinott, legislative counsel. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, there is a reduction in a couple of areas. It would be the two main areas; the annual renewal can be streamlined where there isn’t a change in the provision of service. That is much improved now we think and this is something that certainly the industry as a whole is embracing. The other area is in duplication, Mr. Chairman. There is more than one licence required now in a number of cases. So we are making sure that that would only be one licence. As you can see, we are now talking about guided activities as opposed to trying to get out there and have hotels and...

Madam Chair, committee members, thank you for your consideration today of Bill 11, the Tourism Act for the Northwest Territories.

For several years, the Northwest Territories' tourism industry, including its tour operators and associations, have expressed a desire to see changes made to the existing Travel and Tourism Act. Specifically, their requests for change have reflected two main themes: create a more streamlined and user-friendly licensing system; and protect the NWT's tourism industry experience.

In its efforts to address these issues, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment...

Mr. Chairman, obviously we have a legal obligation to do some consultation as well, but most of the onus is on the operator. As the Member has said, at times I imagine it can be a daunting task.

The reality of the situation is even under the current legislation, the current practice, it is very difficult to see a new tourism licence granted. It is quite stringent, the amount of consultation that takes place. We are not seeing a lot of new licences issued each year. We don’t expect to see a lot of new licences, I expect, in the near future. It becomes a lot easier in the settled areas where...