Kevin O'Reilly

I would like to thank the Premier for those numbers. So, a very significant growth, almost 50 percent it looks like. According to all indicators, the volume of visitors and the tourism operators will continue to grow. This raises some issues for me and other residents of the NWT around the adequacy and suitability of the measures that we use to regulate, inspect, and enforce our tourism licensing. In light of the issues that I raised earlier today and that are out in the media, what evaluation and possible legislative changes are needed to ensure we have the right tools in place to meet these...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. I apologize, I did not give him much of a heads-up. Today I catalogued a number of concerns with the quality of the tourism products being offered and this government's ability to regulate the industry for the protection of tourists and our product reputation. Could the Minister briefly explain how the tourism licensing system operates and what consequences there are for persons operating without licensing? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Recent CBC reports raise many concerns that tourism licensing, regulation, and enforcement is weak and ineffective, and that operations could pose a risk to tourists, to the reputation of the tourism industry, and even to personal safety.

The media reports are detailed and extensive, citing problems with individual operators and the ability of the GNWT to enforce its rules and correct operators who may be out there doing something that is not quite right.

Under the law, an operator must have a licence issued by the territorial government to take money from tour...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess I would like to call on our law clerk to help me understand the effect of this clause. If an individual came forward to the Ombud, and the beginning of their journey, their concern about administrative issues, administrative conduct, started before January 1, 2016, would the Ombud have jurisdiction to look at that complaint? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I do have a couple of questions I want to ask on clause 7 about the regulation-making authority. I want to know whether it's the intention of the Minister to bring forward any regulations with regard to expanding the exclusions as set out under the Act. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Okay, that sounds like that there were some sort of, at least preliminary calculations done. Does the department have any kind of analysis that, even a rough estimate, of what the cost to GNWT would be without this exclusion? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just have a few thank yous at the beginning. I want to thank the Standing Committee on Government Operations on the thorough review they did on the bill. I sat in on some of the work and appreciated that opportunity.

The City of Yellowknife has done a lot of work on these two issues of the accommodation tax and local improvement charges for energy retrofits. These were live issues when I served on city council from 1997 to 2006. These have been a very, very long time coming.

This will provide some funding for tourism, promotion, and investment, and I just wish that our...

I would like to thank the Minister for that, but he didn't tell me why the report was withheld as part of the public consultations for the development of the act.

One of the major findings of the report is that there "may be potential for a comprehensive NWT strategy for resource-led development" and that "a consultative process could get a consistent approach to tackling the hard questions that might otherwise divide the NWT's various constituents." Does the Minister intend to act on this recommendation, and how will this be included in the development of the Mineral Resources Act?

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. I outlined my efforts to pry the contracted publicly funded report, Policies for Generating Socioeconomic Benefits From Natural Resource Extraction Projects, from his department. First, I was refused the report. Then, because I wanted to make it public, I insisted upon an ATIPP request, and the report was posted deep on the ITI website without public notice.

Can the Minister explain how a government purportedly committed to openness and transparency would only make such a report publicly...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act, be read for a third time. Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.