Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I spoke about tourism and international exposure, and the opportunity of having Mr. Martin Strel, known as the Big River Man, swim down the Mackenzie River probably from Hay River or Fort Providence all the way to Tuktoyaktuk. I think it’s a huge opportunity and I had written to the Minister last year.
I’d like to ask the Minister, what would be the steps that we should take to continue this initiative.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, last year the Member wrote to myself and the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources in regard to the Big River Man and the swim down the Mackenzie. Although at first glance of the proposal it would appear that his idea wouldn’t match up with any funding program that the government currently has, our officials were going to contact Martin Strel himself and propose to help out in other ways, and that was to talk to communities along the proposed route and drum up support for such an event to happen. I’d have to go back to the department and see if they’ve actually had those discussions with Mr. Strel and see where this is all at. But, certainly, it has great promise to be a big event. Thank you.
The idea came from Mr. Sean Whelly, the mayor of Fort Simpson, and I’ve been pursuing it since last year and I have raised it with NWT Tourism. It’s a huge opportunity, I think, for international exposure, so if we could get the department onside and look for some resources. What kind of resources would the department have to fund such an international event?
Mr. Speaker, we’ve got a great team down in the Deh Cho in the Nahendeh riding, as the Member is aware, in Fort Simpson and other communities in the riding. We’d certainly be able to coordinate efforts with communities, with tourism operators in the area to make them aware of opportunities and drum up any potential sponsorships. I think that’s one area where, hopefully, the department would be able to help out in such an endeavour. Thank you.
I guess where the Minister can play a bigger role, too, and not only with his support, is such an event would cross many jurisdictions, so getting assistance from all the different ITI departments involved as he avoids the treacherous Jackfish all the way to Tuktoyaktuk, we’ll gladly need his assistance in coordinating that on an NWT-wide scale, if the Minister can commit to looking at something like that. Thank you.
Luckily enough, there’s no piranha in the Mackenzie River, so the worse he’ll have to fear is the Jackfish in the Mackenzie.
Certainly, we need to coordinate efforts. The swim would take place down the entire length of the Mackenzie, so it would include our ITI staff in the Sahtu and in the Mackenzie as well. So it would have to be a coordinated effort, if we are going to look at doing this. I’m going to go back to the department and see where discussions are at with Mr. Strel and his team on trying to pull this off.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I think timing is of the essence. I think in order to make preparations, we have to begin those discussions now. If the Minister, with his continued support, we can begin these discussions with his department, with Mr. Mayor and the NWT Tourism could come up with a good plan that perhaps this event can happen this summer. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. That’s a comment. Would you like to reply, Mr. Ramsay?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll go back to the department and get a response for the Member as soon as possible. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
