David Ramsay

I take very seriously the concerns related to parks and tourism. I spent a number of years as a parks officer in the North Slave region. I’m well aware of the condition and deteriorating conditions in some of our parks and the fact that when it comes to maintenance dollars and capital dollars, parks, because of the competing interests for those capital dollars, are usually one of the last things that gets put on the table. I think we really need to do parks a service and try to identify capital dollars in a meaningful way going forward that are going to have an impact on our parks and the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am happy today to update my colleagues on the huge increases in pelt prices seen at the first wild fur auction of the year.

However, I would first like to take a moment to recognize the loss of a respected elder, wise teacher and talented trapper, Mr. Aà Harry Pierre Mantla. Even at the age of 71, Aà was one of the most active trappers in the North Slave region and could be regularly counted on for 200 marten pelts a year. We would like to offer our sincere condolences to the Mantla family. His contribution to the fur industry will be missed.

The first wild fur sale of...

Certainly, we have a number of sectors when it comes to our tourism that we have here in the Northwest Territories. When I spoke of statistics, we keep track of all the different sectors, whether it’s aurora viewing, fishing, hunting, general touring, outdoor adventure and things of that nature. We do have adequate statistics, which again, as we move forward with a marketing initiative like the Spectacular NWT, we will be able to two or three years down the road see where marketing initiatives like that may or may not have had an impact.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, it is.

I gave the Member a commitment to get him an update on the status of the plan for Prelude Lake and I’d be more than happy to get the Member a status of the involvement of the Yellowknives Dene in those discussions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It was my understanding that this comprehensive management plan was started and I would be more than happy to advise the Member of the status of that plan as soon as I find out.

Industry’s involvement is through the Northwest Territories Tourism. They have a board of directors there. They’re actively involved in the tourism industry here in the Northwest Territories. They do a great job marketing tourism here in the Northwest Territories to both tourists in North America and around the world.

I think, in answer to the previous question, a step in the right direction is the evaluation and the criteria to get the government to evaluate RFPs and a waiting system that is going to give more weight to proposals that maximize northern content. That would include subcontractors, engineering services, whatever the case may be. I think, going forward, that is an area that we certainly have to pay attention to as a government. We again need to maximize those benefits to local businesses and northern businesses here in the NWT, not south of our border and in other places. That’s something that...

If a company does avail themselves of new equipment that would enhance the services that they could provide, I think that would be part of the salesmanship of the company to get out to both government and private sector to ensure that people know what type of equipment they have and what services they can provide. The Government of the Northwest Territories certainly wants to be a partner with northern businesses and ensure that opportunities are maximized to the greatest extent possible when we do look at procurement here in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, there certainly is an Aboriginal component to Tourism 2015. There is an advisory panel, as well, on Aboriginal tourism that is part of Tourism 2015.

The future is very bright. I think we have a number of things that are putting the Northwest Territories on the map. Currently, I would like to suggest that the Northwest Territories is the reality show capital of Canada. We have Ice Road Truckers recently came back to the Northwest Territories to film the new season. We have NWT Ice Pilots, a very successful show, and also Licensed to Drill, a new television series is filmed in the...