Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There has been some discussion at the official level, but I wouldn't exactly call it a negotiation at this point. With that announcement, one of the things that we have to have a good look at is, our devolution agreement with Canada includes a provision to negotiate and manage our offshore and gas resources. So they have signed on to that, and then they have come along and announced that they intend to put a fiveyear moratorium on there. We need to find out what Canada's signal is on this whole file. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are not sure which airline they are going to use outside of that. NWT TTA is their own organization, and they made the decisions around this. If the Member would like, we could probably check with them and see what they are doing. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

As I said, the ones that are done are going to be posted here shortly and the rest of them in the coming year, but I can get the specific ones to the Member's community, for the Sahtu, if they're completed already. I don't know if they're in the list that's not completed, but if they're done I will get them done.

I guess the other thing that I want to mention that we're working on this year, too, is Arctic Energy Alliance is working community energy plans, and there are two communities that are doing that right now. We're working with Fort Providence and Aklavik; this is an CanNor-funded...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I can't commit to that right now, but we will have a look at it and see how we are going to move this forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not certain I can convince him otherwise. This money is for specific projects, so every year it is allocated to specific projects. Last year, they have actually spent more than the money they were allocated. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As for parks under ITI's care and maintenance, I believe that we don't have anything besides some expansions of existing parks. Other parks, that may fall under department of ENR, which would be conservation initiatives. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I just said, Cabinet went to Mineral Roundup with us and they have seen the importance of the mining industry in the Northwest Territories. All my Cabinet colleagues got to see some of the wants and desires of some of the mining companies and what we need to do to improve and attract business in the Northwest Territories. This is one of the programs that got some attention. As the Minister of ITI, moving forward in the life of this Assembly, I will see what I can do about adding some funds to this portfolio. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. These contributions allow the NWT mineral industry sector to have a visible presence at two of the largest, most important trade shows held in Canada, helping attract investors and increase awareness of the NWT. This is one of the goals of the Mineral Development Strategy. The contributions include projects such as prospecting courses, event studies, regional mineral strategy projects, and more. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess the one thing I want to make clear, though, is the Northern Frontier Visitors' Centre is not a GNWT asset. It is a non-profit organization. I understand the Member's comments. They are a victim of their own success, basically, with the amount of tourism increasing in the Northwest Territories. We will continue to reach out and try to help them as much as we can, but it is also the City of Yellowknife's responsibility to probably help them as much as they can, too. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As this does fall under the Petroleum Resource Act, I guess when we take that out on the road and have a look at it this will be the opportunity for the Member to have his input on how he sees that we need to change things to fit the way he thinks it should be run; but presently this is the way the act is written and the way the board has determined their research priorities moving forward. I guess the other thing I could add to it is they do publish an annual report, and it is also online for everyone to see. Thank you, Mr. Chair.