Julie Green

Thank you. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

I find it very puzzling that there is no way of sharing information between the CMHC and the NWT Housing Corporation when both are anticipated investors in this project. What can the Minister do to obtain information that has already been filed with the CMHC so that she can independently evaluate it?

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Goldney.

Thank you, Mr. Norn. There is a motion on the floor to report progress. The motion is in order and non-debatable. All those in favour? Motion is carried.

---Carried

I will now rise and report progress.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Premier, when haven't I given you the straight goods? I appreciate your commitment to looking at how Indigenous business procurement can be reviewed in the context of the more general procurement review that we understand is going to happen. That is everything. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We have talked around procurement issues, and this seems like as good a place as any to look at it. As the Premier may know, the federal government has a threshold for Indigenous procurement, that a certain portion of procurement has to be with Indigenous organizations. In implementing this section and others that have to do with economic development, did the Premier at all think about making that a policy here in the NWT, as well? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Tourism has been a bright light in the NWT economy, experiencing growth other sectors can only dream of. The number of people who are visiting the NWT and the amount of money they spend here are significant. I'm going to review a few numbers from Industry, Tourism and Investment. In 2018-2019, we had just over 120,000 visitors come to the NWT, and together they spent $210 million. Of that total, we had about 42,000 aurora visitors, and together they spent $67.7 million dollars. These are large numbers. Almost 16 percent of visitors last year came from China, a 19-fold...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's commitment on that. The point about early and diverse data collection is to assist tourism marketing and planning efforts, which are obviously essential to shoring up our industry. My final question is: what efforts will the Minister make to re-establish Chinese markets, to assure Chinese visitors they are welcome, and to assist small businesses that may be impacted by the cancellations caused by the coronavirus outbreak? Thank you.