Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, the Department of ITI launched a new brand promoting Great Slave Lake fish. The Hay River MLAs were pleased to participate in the launch in Hay River. We would like to thank the local ITI staff as well as Super 8 and Steve Anderson. I would also like to thank Poison Graphics for my apron. It was exciting to encourage Northerners to buy more local fish.
As you know, Hay River has a strong history in fishing. In the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s we had many fishing companies in Hay River. The fishing industry has changed. We have a few dedicated fishermen currently that catch at least a million pounds a year of the two million pound quota, so we have lots of room to grow.
We need to increase this industry. It’s renewable, it’s good local quality, and we know that fish is a healthy living choice. We need to have northern fish in our hospitals, correctional facilities, restaurants, grocery stores, and at all our kitchen tables.
Right now most of the fish caught in the Northwest Territories on the Great Slave Lake is shipped south with the Freshwater Marketing Corporation. We need to sell more locally. The recent promotion was great but we need to make the next step. We need to be able to package it in the North, sell it in the North, sell it in all the stores in the North and all those facilities I spoke of earlier. Dozens of people came to me during that promotion and said, can I buy the fish here in the store, and the answer is no. So we’ve missed that connection. We need to work on that next step of getting that fish packaged in the Northwest Territories in a fish plant in Hay River, and I will have questions for the Minister on how we get there. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
