Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Aurora tourism is a major component of the NWT tourism industry, and Chinese tourists accounted for about 20 percent of all the tourists who came to the NWT last year. Last month, the Chinese government suspended group tours because of the risk of spreading the corona virus. My question is: does the Minister have any information on the impact of the coronavirus shutdown on tourism? Mahsi.

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.

Thank you to the Minister for that answer. Without data, I am not sure how the Minister can assure us that tourism will be vibrant and that there will be impacts. My specific question on this is: what kind of data is collected on where aurora tourism dollars are spent, say, by community and on what kinds of products?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure if he's here right now, but, earlier in our session, my constituent and well-known photographer Pat Kane was in the gallery. I would like to welcome him to the Legislative Assembly. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Madam Premier.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to revive a discussion started in the 14th Assembly about creating an office of the child and youth advocate for the Northwest Territories. Children and youth need our special attention and support, particularly when they are being cared for by people other than their immediate families. Since the NWT started discussing this issue in 2003, Yukon has created an advocate office, and so has Nunavut. In fact, we are now one of only two jurisdictions in Canada without an office dedicated to protecting the rights of children on both an individual and systemic basis...

Thank you, Madam Premier. Anything further? Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Next on my list is the Member for Thebacha.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Do you have a response, Madam Premier?

Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.