Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to welcome Mr. Richard Letourneau. He’s a constituent of Inuvik Boot Lake and I just want to thank him for all the work he does in Inuvik at the school. He’s also with the French society. I hope you enjoy the proceedings today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. I’d like to welcome everybody here in the public gallery. Thank you for taking an interest in our proceedings here today.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I was speaking about funding supports from our government for the Kole Crook Fiddle Association. I think some of it’s done through the NWT Arts Council, so I would like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment about continuing the same level or even increased funding.
What type of funding guidelines are there with the NWT Arts Councils? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Kole Crook Fiddle Association has been very successful to date, since its inception in 2002. Since 2004, Education, Culture and Employment supported with funding through the NWT Arts Council, a Support to Northern Performers cultural contribution with a total of close to $250,000 since 2004. This averages $20,000 a year. We will continue to provide that valuable contribution to that organization. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
I’m very pleased to hear this and, of course, the association is very pleased with the annual contributions. With the words of “passive restraint” going around, of course I’m up here advocating on their behalf that their annual funding doesn’t get cut back.
I’d like to ask the Minister, hopefully the NWT Arts Council isn’t impacted by our Passive Restraint Policy this year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the NWT Arts Council and the Support to Northern Performers contribution is based on the applications they receive. More specifically, the Kole Crook Fiddle Association has submitted one on an annual basis and they’ll continue to do so.
This is an area where we feel we should continue to support the youth, especially the youth who we sponsor over the years. As far as the 2,100 participants that benefitted from the workshop, even within a three-year timespan there have been 300 participants on an annual basis. This is a very successful project and we’ll continue to deliver that message to the organizations that are funding it as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
I’m very pleased that the Minister recognizes the fact that certainly the music component that they’re delivering enhances and increases the ability of our students to learn and, therefore, is making our education system that much better. I’d just like to ask the Minister if he can evaluate that.
Is there another way that we can continue to support them as well?
This is a contribution through the organization that I spoke of earlier, and we can certainly look at those options as well. My Department of Education, Culture and Employment works closely with the NWT Arts Council and we will continue to support those organizations that submit their applications for these particular activities.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to see the Minister support the efforts of the Kole Crook Fiddle Association.
I just want to ask the Minister, are there any other funding areas within the department that continue to support the association, as well, besides the NWT Arts Council?
We contribute to the NWT Arts Council to effectively contribute towards these highly successful projects or activities within the Northwest Territories, and there has been an increase in that funding over the years as well. We also evaluate on the funding, the criteria, the contribution we contribute on an annual basis. Like I said, it’s been increased over the years, so we can certainly look at those as well.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve talked about the Sahtu region and I want to follow up, and it’s in regard to the hopes and aspirations and visions of the Sahtu people. I want to ask questions to the Minister of Transportation in regard to doing the small steps for our region to look at, hopefully, one day becoming a stand-alone, breakaway region.
I want to ask the Minister of Transportation, given that we have a winter road and the airport is operating out of Inuvik and the winter road is operating out of Simpson, can the Minister look within his department to see if there is any way of creating some programs and positions within the department to move some of these authorities into the region out of the other regions?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. The department has reviewed the possibility of placing a regional office in the Sahtu. However, at this time, at the point of the last review it was determined that considering that there were not a lot of positions at airports that it was most feasible economically to keep that under the regional office in Inuvik and that there was no all-season road/highway activity in Norman Wells. The winter road season was only, well, as long as winter is, a couple of months, three months in some seasons, so we thought that it would be better to continue out of Simpson at this time.
However, as I indicated, we are starting to do reviews and we were very hopeful when we were finally moving to a point where there was a federal pot put aside where we could apply to build the Mackenzie Valley Highway. Because we’re sure that once that highway is built that we will have a regional presence in the Sahtu.
The Minister is well aware of the Sahtu’s aspirations, and with the Mackenzie Valley Highway we’re hoping that we have some good news out of the federal government’s office. Also, the Sahtu, specifically the Tulita leadership, district leadership put a proposal in front of this Minister to look at a small proposal.
Would this small proposal be sort of an indication to say we need to get ready for the Mackenzie Valley Highway? Can you move towards creating the positions in the Sahtu with Transportation with the support of the proposal that’s in front of the Minister’s desk now?
We had received one proposal for sure going from Norman Wells south and also we have to discuss another proposal in Tulita going south again. Then there’s also another proposal for Fort Good Hope also heading south, so sort of on the Good Hope… With the exception of the Good Hope line, everything else would be on the Mackenzie Valley alignment. If we do fund those, it would be a substantial amount of summer work for sure, but right now we’re not in a position to fund any of those proposals. We’re looking at them and we’re talking with the federal government about the possibility of maybe funding those proposals as well. Thank you.
The department has a proposal that’s written with substantial numbers on there. It’s in front of the Minister. The two other ones the Minister talked about are from Tulita and Fort Good Hope. It’s a concept idea and they are hoping that their proposals will be on their way.
I’m asking the Minister, given that we have one substantial proposal from Norman Wells south on the Mackenzie Valley Highway to start preparing for the Mackenzie Valley Highway – it is coming – given this, hoping we get favourable responses to create a position in the Sahtu, that would be a start of having a regional office come into the Sahtu. That’s what we’re asking for.
If the proposal that the Member speaks of, the Canyon Creek proposal, that is to bring the very first access to gravel for the beginning of the Mackenzie Valley Highway coming from the north south, so if that does get funded – it is a substantive proposal – that would certainly be work enough in the Sahtu for a position to be in the Sahtu. However, at this time there is a little bit of planning money that’s been approved to start looking at that, and that’s a positive sign, but at this time we don’t have approval for the whole proposal. It would be kind of hypothetical for me to commit to putting a position in Norman Wells at this time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s discouraging to hear that from the government. It’s no different than me fighting for the residential school survivors to get some decent treatment in the North or for them.
We are penalized because we don’t have an all-weather road. When we did have heavy equipment going with the oil and gas, there was lots of activity, yet we’re still not having any type of support from this department or this government. I am asking if the department could think outside the box; create a position, even if it’s temporary. Don’t shut the door in our face and say no, not until you get an all-weather road. This is not fair. It’s against our region and we are looking at something that would look at having some authority in the Sahtu region with transportation. That’s what we’re asking this government for and right now we’re hearing no. That’s discouraging.
I will ask the Minister again if he would consider it, look at it to see if there’s a possibility of taking advantage of this position and create a superintendent position in the Sahtu region. We want to have the decency and authority to look after things in our own region. Why do we have to call outside the region to do things inside the Sahtu region? It’s ludicrous. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. The positions that are in Norman Wells are positions at the airport and airport operations. We could go back to the department, look at the airport operations. Right now, as the Member indicated, the individuals in Norman Wells report to the Inuvik office. So, if we looked at the reporting relationship from the airport in Norman Wells reporting to the airport division here in Yellowknife, if that’s the simple change that could be made without losing any efficiencies, we’ll look at that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up with questions from my Member’s statement to the Minister of Lands, and I appreciate the Minister’s consultation with our public as part of the process to craft a recreational land management plan. I’m sure that plan will be much better because of this discussion.
Can I ask the Minister, can he say when the consultations will be complete and how long will it take to put together the draft plan for public review after that? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Lands, Mr. R.C. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a few more communities that we need to visit, to do our consultations. Once we do that we’ll work on putting together a bit of a draft consultation and the overall policy is expected to be fully completed in mid-2016. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister. Many constituents are concerned that recreational leases are now being let without this vital planning tool to guide the process. The current leasing process is not seen as clear, consistent or sustainable, and they would like to see a hold on all leases until the rules are in place.
Will the Minister commit to extending the moratorium currently in place to all new recreational land use requests in the NWT, or at least to the islands in Yellowknife Bay, so valuable for public use and desirable for cabin leases, until the new policy is in place?
Thank you. The focus area in and around the capital here is our highest usage and the most demanded for the recreational areas in and around the focus area that we have around the capital.
So we’ve heard some concerns, such as the Member raised there. As far as all of the NWT, the demand out there is not as great as it is here within the focus area. But I’ll have a discussion with the officials and we’ll see if there’s any movement that we can make because we have heard the concerns from not only the Member but a few of the constituents from Yellowknife. Thank you.
The Minister’s response is much appreciated. Absent extension of the moratorium to the valuable lands mentioned that are under ever-increasing pressure, both by the seekers and legitimate leases and squatters, what mechanism does the Minister propose to give the public some say in identifying those lands that should be preserved for the use of all versus those to be leased for private use in the areas where there are not moratorium? Mahsi.
The consultation process that we’re going through right now will give a lot of people the opportunity to raise their concerns. I think the Member raised in his Member’s statement, there was a lot of good feedback from the people that had taken part in the consultations here, and I think he even mentioned some of the areas outside of the focus areas. So we use this consultation, and it’s been a great opportunity for folks out there to let us know their feelings as we continue to develop our policy. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. Once the lands are identified to be offered for lease to people wishing to build cabins, they must be allocated in a transparent and fair fashion. One method proposed is through ballot draws. Another is to auction them off to the highest bidder.
Once these lands have been identified for offer to the public for leasing, what equitable and clear process does the Minister propose to allocate them? Mahsi.
Thank you. Again, that would be part of the feedback from the consultation, but our initial plan is if we’re going forward in letting any leases out there, a ballot draw we’ve heard is the fairest way to do that. We respect that and we would take that into consideration, but our plan now is if any lands were to be disposed of I think the ballot draw would be the fairest process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today for the Minister of ITI in regards to some of our tourist investments and some of our tourism supports. I mentioned in my Member’s statement the Inuvik Sunrise Festival and the support and interest it got from media campaigns and Facebook. I was just looking at the numbers here, but this very creative group in Inuvik used an organization on Facebook and they garnered over 1,800 contest entries and then on the Rogers Media on the radio show they had over 2,600 entries. So, over 4,500 contest entries to get up to Inuvik to welcome back the sun.
I’d like to ask the Minister of ITI, is this in the planning or marketing planning strategy that we can start utilizing social media, but also utilizing some of these radio stations down south such as Rogers and teaming up with them to develop some type of marketing strategy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Sunrise Festival is an important event in Inuvik and certainly efforts to market it is something that the Department and NWT Tourism is interested in and will continue to be interested in. Last year ITI supported the festival with a $10,000 contribution and also NWT Tourism provided a $20,000 contribution for a total of $30,000. If the Member wants to have a look, I know that number hasn’t been increased, the contribution from ITI, in some time. That’s a discussion that can take place between the Town of Inuvik and our regional office in Inuvik.
As far as marketing the Northwest Territories, festivals are a big part of that, opportunities for people to come here to the Northwest Territories and go to a festival. We just tabled our marketing plan for ‘15-16 in the House, I believe it was last week, and I’d encourage the Member to have a look at that. There are ways to plug those festivals into our marketing efforts both domestically and internationally. Thank you.
In regards to the Sunrise Festival, I know the department really does a great job in promoting our northern lights, and we do see that. It’s pretty evident here in Yellowknife when we see all the tourists here. But like I mentioned in my Member’s statement, there’s no other place that I know of in the world that has a celebration of welcoming back the sun. This is huge and I think that it’s something that we can market as well. Also, the Minister had mentioned in his Minister’s statement before about the Oil and Gas Strategy. We know the economy is slow and that oil and gas activity is not very active at all in the Beaufort-Delta region, so investing in a different type of industry such as tourism.
I’d like to ask the Minister, when he’s going out to promote our northern lights and Destination NWT, would he also promote the welcome back Sunrise Festival equally as the northern lights? Like I said, no other place in the world does something like this.
NWT Tourism obviously is an industry-driven organization that does our marketing. They have representatives from all regions of the Northwest Territories. We do our best, and I’ve mentioned before in the House, on promotional videos having images from across the Northwest Territories. I understand what the Member is saying and we will try to incorporate festivals and, in this case, the Inuvik Sunrise Festival. I know the commercial that they had with orange juice company, I won’t mention the name but they were very successful in showcasing that festival through a commercial. So other efforts like that through social media and things of that nature certainly should be encouraged, and I’d be happy to promote opportunities in Inuvik for the Sunrise Festival on any promotional trip that I have. Thank you.
I think the concept of having a contest to get Southerners up to our regions in the NWT shows that people are interested in coming up to the North. They had over 4,500 entries just from the Facebook site as well as the radio contest. I didn’t get any statistics on how the TV program showed up.
The active group in Inuvik, the Tourism Stakeholder Committee, is also looking at doing something similar for the Aboriginal Day, Summer Solstice, as well as the Great Northern Arts Festival and our annual reindeer crossing. Would the department look at funding or look at supporting contests of a similar nature for other events like that not only in Inuvik but right across the Northwest Territories? All regions are doing really great things. Is this something that he would look at, a contest type of marketing strategy for the Northwest Territories?
Contests are a good way for us to promote what we have here in the Northwest Territories in terms of tourism product. I know when we launched the Aurora Capital of the World in Vancouver there was a trip giveaway. Just recently at NWT Days in Ottawa we had a grand prize for a trip for two to the Northwest Territories. People like to enter contests. They like to have a chance to come to a place they normally wouldn’t get a chance to come to, and certainly the Northwest Territories is a place people want to try to get to.
Incorporating contests is important and we are continuing to work with Inuvik, with the Town of Inuvik, through Destination Inuvik, new promotional materials to better target potential visitors to the Beaufort-Delta, and we will continue to do that, because really, and the Member mentioned, this is a good opportunity for the Town of Inuvik, for the region, and with the highway going to be completing construction here in two years, there is tremendous opportunity in the Beaufort-Delta to get more tourists in there, not only in the winter but in the summer, and we could be looking at campgrounds, service stations and maybe even more restaurants in the region as well.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to ask the Minister, how do we promote one of our other big attractions, the Mackenzie River? We can look at possibly providing some kind of package for the Mackenzie River. I’d like to ask the Minister, are we promoting our Mackenzie River expedition?
