Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is only our second operational season. We haven't looked at those things yet. If the Members remember correctly, we bought this thing in December, and we had to have it up and running by the following May, which we did, and we made a profit the first year, with all of the challenges that we had around that, with one-time costs associated with bringing boats back down from the High Arctic to insurance and Lloyd's of London and inspections and staffing and crewing. There was a huge challenge around that, and the department pulled it off and got our first year done.

We...

You know, we have had a lot of discussions in this House about where infrastructure money should go, and a lot of people believe that it should go to education, health, and housing infrastructure.

When we go down to these meetings with our federal colleagues and provincial and territorial colleagues, the criteria is clearly laid out. The federal government has said that our bilaterals are for green infrastructure; public transit; social infrastructure, which is community, culture, and recreational bilateral; rural northern communities; and Arctic Energy Fund. That is the criteria that I have to...

I can maybe take a crack at it, and then maybe the deputy or someone wants to step in. The easiest way I look at it, from a business point of view, is, first of all, if I were a business guy, why would I want to buy MTS? When you get into a situation like this here, there is so much risk there that, to me, for that type of investment, it would be very challenging to turn a profit in this environment. There is so much risk involved around climate change alone and even sovereignty.

There are a number of things that I think we will have to look at from a data point of view. It would even be from a...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I have laid out before, first of all, how are you going to haul millions of litres of fuel to Tuktoyaktuk? We can do that. That's by truck. Trucking is going to cost you a heck of a lot of money to get the fuel up there, way more than it ever is going to be on a railhead to bring it to Hay River. The terminal is there. It is the most northern railroad in Canada.

We also have, as I said, the Synchro Lift there, which is millions of dollars of assets to build something like that up there, to be able to lift the barges and the vessels out of the water to do maintenance and...

I can certainly check with the department for exactly what we used and share that with the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I have stated in the House, this is early days on this purchase of this asset. We are having to look at those options going forward. As I have said in the House many times, we need more than one or two seasons' data to have a look at this, but the department is certainly having to look at various models of what the end game will be. Those decisions will be made once we get more data and input to be able to make a decision around that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

This money is to help entrepreneurship. It is not to support a business and keep them in business. This is to help support business. Let's make it quite clear. Businesses are an entrepreneurial-driven thing. The Government of the Northwest Territories is not in the business of being in business. Let's make that very clear.

I am one of the few people in this House who is a businessperson. My whole life, I have been a businessperson. I understand this file probably better than anyone in this House. Yes, some of these programs are stretched to their limit, but we only have so much money. What do...

Why does it always have to be on the back of the Government of the Northwest Territories? Can Members tell me, why does it always have to be on the back of the government? I am a private businessperson. If I have an issue with a particular type of tender and I don't have the expertise for it, I will reach out to counterparts in southern Canada to help me. You guys seem to think it's on the back of the Government of the Northwest Territories. The Government of the Northwest Territories is here to help facilitate and grow the economy and look after the residents of the Northwest Territories. We...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not have that information right here at my desk, but I can get that exact number for the Member and provide it to him. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are a victim of our own success. I have said that in this House before. Build it, and they will come. That is what happened around tourism, and that is what is happening particularly in the region of Yellowknife.

The numbers are increasing every year. There are all kinds of challenges around that, but as we move forward with the 2025 plan, we are going to have to have deliberations around budgets and stuff, and I am going to have the make the case going forward for what tourism needs in the Northwest Territories. I will have to make the case in a significant way that the Finance Minister and...