Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Madam Chair. With respect to the positions in Inuvik, I had brought this up before, is that, in South Slave and I guess the Deh Cho as well, it would be nice to have somebody look at tying in the communities into natural gas. Assuming that natural gas is probably going to have to come out of Alberta, have we looked at that at all or explored that area? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With respect to the issues I brought up, I guess, about procurement and the hiring, can the Minister confirm if her department is going to do a review of MTS to address those concerns? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Minister had mentioned earlier about looking at shipping oil, I think, down the Mackenzie and around the coast, somewhere, anyway. Can she just restate, I guess, what she said?

Can the Minister confirm if she can make the contract between MTS and ORSI available, if not to myself, then to the appropriate standing committee, so that we can determine what we are dealing with?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess, just in closing here, I would like to make a comment, and I would like to say that, in the South Slave there, I am pretty impressed with the way the parks are operated. They are looked after pretty well. The park manager is doing a good job, and the staff seem to be doing a good job, as well. I really appreciate that. They seem to be responsive. Yes. Good job. Just the outhouses. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like just to turn to agriculture. I had a chat with a few of the farmers in Hay River, and a number of issues come up. It is associated with cost, the cost of land leases, the cost of taxes for the land, the cost of power, the cost of fuel. It just makes it unfeasible to actually farm. Is the department looking at how to address that, and do they have any plans? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the previous sitting, I discussed Marine Transportation Services, or MTS, as it is referred to. It is time to review the management and operations of MTS. It has been three years since the asset purchase, and we have stuck our head in the sand and let it operate as is. MTS was purchased to ensure uninterrupted freight services to the communities along the Mackenzie River and the coast. It quickly morphed into something more that includes providing services such as vessel repair and private charters.

Mr. Speaker, it is time this government identify what we are trying...

Thank you, Madam Chair. One other issue that comes up in Hay River is the group camping at -- I can't remember the name of that little area there. Anyways, there is a group camping area there, and it seems to be the gate is locked all of the time. I am not sure how much use it gets, but it would be nice to know, I guess, if that can be, not repurposed, but reprofiled for day use. I know it used to be day use, and now it just seems to be closed all of the time. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With respect to marketing, what plans does the department have to assist the fishers in marketing their fish outside of FFMC? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to talk about, I guess, tourism in Hay River. We have the Hay River Tourism Society, a museum, I guess it is, and we have a facility, which is fairly old and beat up. I know that they are trying to do a little bit of work to do it, and I think they had made an application for something like $160,000. They got that cut in half, which did a little bit for them, but not enough. It would be nice if the department would take a look at that again and reconsider that amount. It is an opportunity to do something while things are slow in the territories and provide...