Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Member to be a little bit more specific. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As we have tabled in the House, Tourism 2020, there are a number of initiatives there that we can work with all the communities in the Northwest Territories and Aboriginal peoples that want to go into the tourism industry, and I would be glad to sit down with the Member to work with his communities on how they can leverage some of that programming.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like I said, I have disbanded the board, and have been having a look at how this thing works and how it is going to best suit the residents in the Northwest Territories. I would love to sit down and have a conversation with the Member on some advice, moving forward.

The rationale for the extension is, in fact, the overall state of the financing and exploration sector remains the same. As we all know, the market conditions are tight, and we are trying to attract new mining people to the Northwest Territories to spend their money. We still need to overcome the perception of the Northwest Territories being a difficult place to do business, and this is one of the avenues that we see that can attract investments.

Mr. Speaker, our territory is a region with massive petroleum potential, and we have committed in our mandate to delivering a long-term strategy to capitalize on these reserves and to bring oil and gas investment back to the NWT. The need for this work was first identified during public engagements informing the development of the NWT Economic Opportunities Strategy.

Across our North, industries, businesses, and residents pointed to the need for strategic planning and preparation to position our territory to capitalize on the opportunities that the responsible development of our oil and gas...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we move forward, how we are going to operate the marine division, we will be definitely updating committee on revenues versus expenses, and we will have a look at all that stuff moving forward.

We cannot control the levels of the river. We are hoping that this year has a good sailing season. As far as what deliveries are going to be scheduled out initially for fuel delivery to the Members' ridings, I would have to get that information and get back to him.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. He is putting words in my mouth. I didn't say that we didn't need any type of improvements or any type of advice moving forward. I came from the private sector. I spent my whole life in the private sector. I have used the procurement system within the Government of the Northwest Territories. There are rules and policies in place that make it beneficial to northern businesses and individuals who want to participate in procurement with the Government of the Northwest Territories. We will continue to look at those, how we will make it better moving forward.

No, I will not.

I would have to look at my schedule, but I would be very interested in going up there and seeing the impact of the Crystal Serenity docking in these communities, and the economic benefits it brings to the communities.