Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has been a long time that I stood in this House and talked about the commercial fishing industry on Great Slave Lake. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that our government, our Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment has seen fit to hold that consultation with the Fisherman’s Federation that resulted in the vote to begin the actions required to remove the Great Slave Fishery in the Northwest Territories from the purview of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, it took a long time to get consensus amongst the fishers themselves. Unfortunately, we have seen this industry deteriorate from when about two million pounds of whitefish per year were being harvested from Great Slave Lake to now where we are lucky if we pull out 200,000 pounds of whitefish from Great Slave Lake.
Mr. Speaker, as you know, this was such a viable part of the economy of Hay River for so many years and we are looking forward to returning to that. This is healthy food on our doorstep. I don’t think there is enough market in the Northwest Territories, though, to absorb all of the fish. So of course the issue of marketing and the cross-border implications of exporting our fish are all matters that will need to be dealt with as we come up with a new plan for marketing the fish from the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
MEMBER’S STATEMENT ON
TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PUBLIC HOUSING RENTAL SUBSIDY
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I will be speaking about the return of the administration of the public housing rental subsidy to local housing organizations. Responsibility for the public housing rental subsidy was transferred to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment in 2006 in an attempt at a one-window service. Some program improvements were made in terms of accountability and fairness across the NWT, but residents of small communities did not see themselves better served. I’m very pleased that the responsibility for the public housing rental subsidy will be returned to the NWT Housing Corporation.
No longer will tenants have to wait up to three weeks to have their assessments done. They will only have to speak directly to their local housing staff and this is very important to the people. I believe this approach is much more client friendly, it separates the subsidy from any link with social assistance, it also makes the subsidy more acceptable. This change is good news.
I respect the government’s willingness to listen to Regular Members and revisit their decision. Members’ input was a product of listening to their constituents and this is most important. I am confident that the transition from ECE back to the NWT Housing Corporation will be seamless and our clients will be well served. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
