Katrina Nokleby

Thank you, Madam Chair. The plant plays into the larger fish strategy revitalization for Great Slave. We have been working in conjunction with a lot of the fishers, the Tu Cho Fishers Cooperative, other external parties. We are working with Memorial University on reducing the plant size so that we can meet the $9 million, which I'm sure you're all familiar with. The goal here is to build a fish plant in Hay River. That was what came out of the strategy that was tabled in the House in March of 2017, and that was part of the strategy. I hear from numerous fishers who do want the fish plant...

I commit to the Member to doing an Inuvik or Beaufort Delta specific release with information regarding the differences with the online system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That sort of decision would actually have to come to the financial management board as, surprisingly, we do collect a significant amount of fees from the parks. I do want to state that it's my understanding that the fees are not super high, perhaps about $15 for a tent platform. I believe the highest price is $32 for Fred Hennie at a powered site, but I can commit to getting the exact numbers on those. What we have done is we are doing a "buy five nights, get your sixth night free coupon." When you register on the online system -- which I'm assuming I'm going to have to adapt to Inuvik...

We had a plan, and then, as we went out for the tender, all of the proposals came back too high, so we are just actually tweaking the plan. We have gone back to Memorial University, who has provided us with the technical expertise behind the plant design, to say that this is our budget and what are the areas where we can minimize or downsize things so that we can fit our budget, but also to look at different uses for the by-products of the fish and not only selling the fish. We're now also exploring where we can use stuff for fertilizers and things like that. My understanding is that we are...

The past two light duty trucks purchased for highway staff saw one vehicle go to the Yellowknife camp and the other to the Behchoko camp. We are purchasing two loaders this summer, one for the Yellowknife camp, one for the Behchoko camp. Both the Yellowknife camp and the Edzo camp have aging equipment and vehicles and the department is working on a solution to update both equipment and vehicle requirements at both locations. I can tell the Member that the North Slave Behchoko will be receiving a new plough dump truck valued at $400,000, and they will also be receiving a wheel loader valued at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's unsettling to me to hear that morale in the camp is not good. I commit to the Member that this will change. I understand that the Member would like to see more involvement from senior management in the camp, and I commit that we will improve upon that, Mr. Speaker, and do better. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can only speak for myself, not for the rest of Cabinet in those discussions, so I do just want to speak as my department. One of the challenges we have faced has been the speed of which life and times are changing with respect to the COVID pandemic. We're running into situations we never have before, and we're trying to find solutions on the fly. As we move into phase 2 and a period of economic recovery, we are only now able to consider the challenges and paths that are ahead. We have put a number of pieces in place to help us. They include the three advisory boards, including the business...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank the Member for her attention to this. I think we both share a common interest in seeing our businesses succeed. That being said, one of the foundations that is expected for our government is that our programs are fair and equal to everyone, especially in the situations where the resources are limited. We're very conscious of supporting one business in a market over one of its competitors. We are equally as conscious, though, of how we support businesses in Yellowknife compared to businesses in other communities. I recognize the point the Member is...

As part of the transition with the regional superintendents, it is my understanding that the new superintendent did visit the camp. However, I don't know when the date of that was. I am disappointed to hear that the employees at the camp are not feeling supported or enough interaction with senior management, so I commit to the Member that, not only will senior management go, I will also go to the camp. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This summer, the North Slave highway operations is hiring four casual labours, two for the Yellowknife camp and two for the Behchoko camp. The regional manager of highways has staffed the two Yellowknife casual positions through the casual pool in accordance with the Affirmative Action Policy. Presently, the two candidates identified for Behchoko are in the reference check phase and should be staffed soon.