Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. There is a motion on the floor to report progress. The motion is in order and non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can tell the Minister has had to answer a lot of these junior kindergarten questions.

Laughter

My final question is: what about the capital costs associated with implementing junior kindergarten? Is that coming out of this $2.7 million, or is there additional money that ECE has that will cover the full capital costs of implementing this? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This highlights the problem with this whole junior kindergarten debate. I'll go back to the boards, and they'll come back to me with a different number, and so it's just he said, she said, so it's going to take some digging here. I'm not saying the Minister isn't truthful. I'm just saying I'm getting different answers from different people.

So how will this $2.7 million roll out? Is it going to be $1.5 million the first year, $1.2 million the second year? Is there a plan for that yet?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd also like to recognize Mayor Brad Mapes. He's been a great ally as I've been an MLA. I've learned a lot from him. He's also good for counsel, so I appreciate him coming out and showing his support.

As MLA for Hay River North, I regularly attend GSLAC meetings, I meet privately with the NWT Fishermen's Federation president, I attend the NWT Fishermen's Federation meetings, I talk to fishermen in Hay River, and I know that these issues they brought to GSLAC. The issues with zoning aren't being addressed. When I went to my first GSLAC meeting, they brought up issues. We went to the second one, there were the same issues with absolutely no movement. If anything, there was a denial of doing anything. I've also hear, from the federation that when they talk to the bureaucrats they tell them, we...

It's good to hear that we're moving and it should be in within a week. If a deal can't be struck with Freshwater -- given their track record, I'm not sure one can be, but I'm still hopeful -- will the GNWT take the initiative and dip into that $1.4 million they've had set aside and build a fish processing plant in Hay River?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's a lot of issues at the forefront right now that I could talk about, but I'm going to start with an issue that I need to keep at the forefront, commercial fishing.

Since 2014, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment has been talking about a strategy to revitalize the commercial fishing industry. This is exactly the type of work that ITI should be undertaking. They're not trying to create an industry from nothing. We have a resource. There are markets for that resource, and we have entrepreneurs to drive the industry.

There are many positive...

I also mentioned that the Great Slave Lake has been neglected by DFO when it comes to the investment in harbors. You look at any lake in the south that's utilized by the commercial fishing industry, especially one of comparable size, you'll see just how bad our deficit is. This lack of access points combined with the outdated quota zones means that fish around the Great Slave Lake have to travel much farther than competitors in the south, it means their wages and the cost for equipment is much higher. It puts them at an immediate disadvantage. Because of the low-level engagement to address...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier, I spoke about the infrastructure deficit when it comes to commercial fisheries in Hay River, so I have some questions for the Minister of ITI.

As far as I understand, the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation is responsible for maintaining their commercial fishing infrastructure in the territory. Somehow, we let them shirk their responsibilities, and the fishermen are the ones who ultimately suffered. Now we're left with a packing plant that needs about $2 million in upgrades to bring it up to code. I'd like an update on the status of the negotiations with...

Mr. McNeely.