Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Madam Chair. Additionally, we charged all of our tourism operators $500 to get started up. I don't think we should do this in the first place, but can we refund that money or get rid of that fee? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't think it is too burdensome for us to be able to track every time we lose a language speaker, and I don't think it's too burdensome to track every time we gain a language speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess I will ask this question one more way. Can the Minister commit to tracking how many fluent language speakers we have presently, and every time we lose one, that that is tracked somewhere and presented in the data? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would appreciate it. Perhaps, going forward, it's a corporate restructuring thing. Every time I am talking about mineral economy versus petroleum, they are not in one department, in one section, in one line item, because they are obviously very different conversations. If they are wrapped up in this $5 million, I would like to know what's going to the mining versus what's going to the petroleum. I would appreciate that response.

My other question is: I really support the work that the NWT geological survey does. It's really the backbone. Some of the permafrost work is...

I really look forward to seeing those results this summer. I believe the issue here is that, every five years, we get the data compiled, and there's no doubt that the languages are in decline. Absent them not being in decline, I don't know how we can paint anything but a bleak picture, Mr. Speaker. I believe we need much more comprehensive data year after year. Can I be informed how many new fluent speakers we are producing each year versus losing? Can I get a data statistic that shows me the net number of speakers we have in this territory?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. I would appreciate some regular updates on that process. I think there is a lot of interest in the public to making sure and understanding. It's a very complicated process. I think a lot of northern businesses are nervous. I think a little more public outreach on what exactly is occurring and what the GNWT's role would be appreciated. I want to move to the $4,935,000 for mineral and petroleum resources. I have no issue with the first half, the mineral, but I have quite a few issues with the second half, petroleum resources.

At one point someone would pay you to take...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all have a collective responsibility to do more to make sure our Indigenous languages thrive. This is not an easy task. Young speakers under 25 are much are more likely to gain fluency than those aged 25 to 45, due to a result of intergenerational shame from residential schools and other complicated factors. We have lost a few generations of speakers. I believe there is much more we need to do. There needs to be more oversight in the programs we are delivering. I believe many of the single-class programs we are offering right now are simply failing. We need immersion...

Thank you, Madam Chair. A number of exploration companies are not eligible for federal wage subsidy programs given that they don't really have revenue or have the qualified drop in revenue. Can the Minister update me on any advocacy work to address this gap with the federal government or any intentions for the department to address this gap? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, the Northern Food Development Program is application based. A number of the South Slave where we have fertile land have been unable to access this. I know it's not fully subscribed to, so I think it's a bit of a problem with the program as opposed to a lack of desire to develop more food and food security. Could the Minister update me if whether there will be a review of this program to make sure that, when we have this $550,000 here, it's actually going to get out the door? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Increasing that support is largely linked to the work that is occurring on the NWT Arts Strategy, which I recognize is a joint venture by ITI and ECE. Perhaps the Minister could update me if any progress has been made on increasing support for film and specifically a model that is more of a film producers' incentive program. The way the film industry works is it's very similar to the mining industry. One in a thousand projects go forward, but, when they do, they are very significant. We have the possibility of pulling multimillion-dollar movie productions to the North...

All right. I will try and sneak one more in. I know that the Minister is a huge fan of the Geoscience Forum. We have been doing that for 47 years, I believe. I think there is a lot of potential in bringing people to the North for trading convention, tourism. I know even the Dene Nation was looking at getting a huge conference with the First Nations Assembly, which would mean hundreds or thousands of chiefs coming here. I am not quite sure we have the tourism infrastructure to hold those large conferences, but I really do think that, looking at the Geoscience Forum, there is a huge market to...