Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As many of you know, Hay River is known for its long-standing history of fishing industry in the community. The industry is at one of its weakest points. The industry has many issues such as the price per pound that they can get for their catch, the price of gasoline and the limited amount of youth that want to work in that harsh of an industry.
One of the issues that has been debated is the marketing of northern fish, whether it be to the Fresh Water Marketing Corporation. Where else can we sell the fish that they catch in Hay River and the Great Slave Lake for the best dollar?
One area that I would like to open up to the fishermen is the NWT border. In today’s economy with free trade, NAFTA, demands from provinces to open the borders to every province and territory, and even Europe wanting free trade, but the NWT fishermen cannot sell their fish to other provincial customers.
My questions today will be for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment to open our borders for the fishing industry. We don’t need to teach these people how to fish; we just need the NWT government to give the fishing industry a fighting chance.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
