Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled "Northwest Territories Tourism Marketing Plan 2017/18." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the secret is out; or, to be more precise, 150 secrets are coming out.

They are the foundation of a Canada-wide promotion highlighting the many reasons our territory is a spectacular place to live and visit.

From coast to coast, Canadians are learning about things like the Rabbit Kettle Tufa Mounds in Nahanni National Park, the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway, the Canol Trail, Ice Road Truckers, and Fort Smith’s annual Paddlefest.

The campaign, which is also taking advantage of Canada’s 150th birthday, was conceived and is being led by our government’s Destination Marketing...

We have no plans to have subsidized freight rates. I believe that the purchase of us buying these assets has helped lock down uncertainty that would have been brought to this industry and supplies to the northern regions of the Northwest Territories. I cannot tell you exactly what the rates are, but I believe, I think, we are following the rates from the previous sailing season.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For Members of this House and those listening, if you look on the Public Works website, there is a tentative sailing season already posted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I said yesterday, I haven't heard any of this. This is the first I have heard of it from the Member. If he has people who would like to talk to me, we will sit down and have a conversation.

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...