Wally Schumann

The fishing strategy moving forward, it says for Great Slave Lake, but, if you look at what we have in the document, fish harvester expansion programs to help fishers cover part of their capital investment is one of the ones in the strategy; support for new entrants into the fishing industry in the Northwest Territories; the Northern Food Development Program, ITI supports fishers for the domestic commercial market in the NWT. There are a number of things in there. We have also allocated another $225,000 in this year's budget towards helping revitalize this stuff, and I believe that all of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, too, I want to recognize a grade 6 class and all the chaperones, J'Lynn Boyce, Belinda Chen, Jonathan Demarcke, Reese Leonard, Logan MacIntyre, Mason McPherson, Austin McArthur, Miranda Orr, Lynn-Don Proud, Seth Patterson, Stephanie Patterson, Erik Scheper, Harry Scheper, Chase Templeton, Colbey Walters, Roy Walters, and Brady Wickert. I would also like to recognize my wife in the House today and also my son, CJ. It is his birthday on Sunday.

Mr. Speaker, if the conditions are right and we get the shore work completed that allow access to the ferries, I don't see an issue with launching that ferry sooner than the other ones. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We don't anticipate any issues or delays. I think, going forward right now, there's some retrofit work happening on the ferries and they're proceeding as scheduled. Normal shipping season or ferry traffic usually starts the first or second week of June, and we don't anticipate anything different at this time.

I think the Minister of Health actually touched on some of this yesterday. We are working closely with the Department of health and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on this moving forward, to allow for future sales of these products, so, hopefully, within the next two years in the NWT. But before these sales can occur, public health regulations need to be developed, so that is why I am doing work within the departments.

From my understanding, though, through the Food Establishment Safety Regulations, this allows food to be sold that has been harvested legally by NWT...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Both the development of the Agriculture Strategy and the fishing strategy that we've tabled this year precedes a very big important agenda for the government for our economic development of the Northwest Territories, but, getting strictly to the question about buying local foods in local stores, the challenge with that moving forward is that we have an agricultural strategy, but we have a need to develop a process moving forward, as it is the first agricultural strategy in the Northwest Territories, and the regulatory framework around that, and what needs to be put in...

Yes, the Member is correct. We are going to do the supplemental funding above and beyond what we already allocate to the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre, and we have already allocated quarterly the money that they need to operate for the first part of this year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As we dealt right now, we dealt with the short-term situation that has come upon the northern frontier visitor information centre. They will be moving into the museum just down the road here in a short time, and we have assisted them with that along with the City of Yellowknife which has topped up some of their funding. In the long-term need, we have to sit down with City of Yellowknife and the northern frontier information centre and find out what is going to be the best practice going forward and the needs of this tourist information centre to serve the residents of Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following 12 documents entitled "GNWT Response to Committee Report 6-18(2) Report on the Review of Bill 7: An Act to Amend the Revolving Funds Act"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 513-18(2): Sale of Mactung Mining Property;" "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 516-18(2): Small Business Supports;" "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 546-18(2): Promoting Tourism in Small Communities;" "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 584-18(2): Socio-Economic Agreements;" "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Questions 585-18(2) and 591-18(2): Ice Road Maintenance;" "Follow-Up...

My understanding with our conversation with the federal Minister is that decisions on most pots of money around infrastructure will be decided by fall of this year.