Wally Schumann
Statements in Debates
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will pass that on to Deputy Minister Neudorf. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, there is no intention of doing that at any other airport. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is something that is possible once we get the airport up to where we think it should be. Maybe this is a fee that in a future government could be either lowered or discontinued. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
This one, I want to answer right away. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't know where the Member is coming from when he thinks there is going to be an extra fee on for his residents flying through from Fort Simpson south. Anyone who is flying from Fort Simpson directly through, if they have a stopover here and get on another carrier and continue south, there is not going to be a fee for that. The only way there would be is if they came here, spent a couple of days here, and had to rebook a ticket or something going south. Then there would be the $20 fee plus the additional aeronautical fees that...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We expect that this would be less for the outlying communities than 0.08 per cent. The other thing I want to mention, though, when we are talking about this 0.08 per cent of cost of living to residents of Yellowknife, this is only if you choose to fly. If you do not choose to fly, this does not impact you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will answer him very quickly. First of all, we have met with NWT Tourism. We have actually met with them twice to discuss items that are issues around tourism. One of the things that we are working on with them is figuring out how we can attract direct flights from Vancouver to Yellowknife, which will allow for a lower cost for travellers from Asia, in particular, coming from Vancouver directly to Yellowknife. We believe that is going to help them out, because it is actually going to put more money in the tourists' pockets, and possibly even increase the numbers coming...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, we can supply that information how we arrived to the multiplier effect on that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Air Transportation Association of Canada. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So this individual, if he flies from Simpson through the Yellowknife Airport to Edmonton, there's no fee, nothing. But if the individual flies to Yellowknife on one ticket and then buys a different ticket to leave out of the Yellowknife Airport to go to Edmonton, there would be a fee. But if he's flying the Yellowknife Airport from Fort Simpson return, or even one-way to Edmonton, there is no additional cost to the ticket. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know it was a comment, but I have to respond to it. As being the Minister of Transportation, I am now going to be the Minister in charge of infrastructure. Our infrastructure deficit in this territory is more than we could ever tackle. I've said many times, even at the federal FTP tables, the money that they had allocated for transportation nationally across this country, if they all gave it all just to the Northwest Territories, would never, ever even meet the needs of the Government of the Northwest Territories and the citizens of our territory. These are ongoing...