You just snuck in there, Mr. Speaker. I didn't think I was going to get it. Today, I noticed that there has been a lot of negative talk about the economy. There has been a lot of finger pointing and adversarial back and forths. Let's change the conversation. Let's talk about economic growth. Let's talk about investment. Let's talk about Cabinet and Regular Members working together. Let's talk about the Hay River fish processing plant, Mr. Speaker.
When I last brought this up, it was February, and at that time, the Minister of ITI was still trying to secure some federal funding. I would like an update in general on the fish plant, where we are with that federal funding, when we are going to be breaking ground, and anything else you would like to share with us. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As all Members know, the department is fully committed to this process. We believe in revitalizing the fishing strategy. We want to implement this strategy. We have committed significant funds from this government towards this strategy. We have also committed a position to help the fishermen in Hay River in moving this strategy forward.
We are working with other federal departments to secure some funding around this and other funding partners. These initial discussions are still looking very promising and, at the right and appropriate time, I will announce what kind of dollars we have to put towards this fish plant. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
When we last discussed this, the Minister mentioned there was a $12 million fish plant, maybe $9 million depending on the funding. There are some concerns arising with that price tag, namely the O and M associated with running a plant like that. There are some fishermen who are concerned that, you know, the department is going to saddle them essentially with this massive fish plant and they might not be able to afford it in the future if times get bad. So I was wondering: what sort of financial risks are the fishermen, whether it's the Fishermen's Federation or the Tu Cho Cooperative, going to incur as a result of managing this plant in the government's plans?
A business plan was developed in partnership with the Tu Cho fishery, which is a business arm of the NWT Fishing Federation. The accounts for utilities were part of the operational expense. The business plan was based on a worst case scenario, and it still shows a profit based on the historic catches of the lake, and especially the latest quotas we are been pulling out of the lake. So, worst case scenario, this thing still makes money.
We want to see this thing succeed. That's why we put so much energy and time and money into this. We are working with the fishermen to make sure that this becomes a profitable business for them. I personally have a vested interest in trying to, you know, I have seen what the Freshwater Marketing Corporation has done to the fishermen in Hay River, and I don't think there was a significant amount of investment from them over the last few years, which has really made that place hard to manage and hard to operate. A brand new fish plant will bring different opportunities to them. We want to find different ways to do secondary processing beyond the business case to help support them to make more money and contribute to higher returns to fishers in the NWT. We will continue to work on that and reduce and mitigate any risk to them, but like with any business opportunity there is risk.
Another issue or another concern that some of the fishermen have is that, because of the issues with freshwater that the Minister has mentioned and because of the price of fish, some fishermen have developed local markets. You know, they have quite robust local markets. They have regular customers and they can make a good living this way. So the concern is that the GNWT's plan to revitalize the fishery might encroach on some of these local markets. Can the Minister guarantee that the plant to revitalize the fishery doesn't include local sales that are going to directly compete with the fishermen currently selling fish?
As part of the Great Slave commercial revitalization policy planning and a two-price system, the wholesale to fisher and retail price was proposed to the Northwest Territories Freshwater Marketing Federation, to consider and was approved several years ago. Like anything, the intent of the strategy is not to compete and displace existing sales channels that fishers have and compete against small businesses, but the system having adequate supply of year-round fulfillment for sales opportunities and develop new ones.
As the Member from Hay River knows, some of the challenges around the way that the fishery is right now, we don't even have a year-round supply. I wanted to get some fish earlier this spring, and it makes a challenge just because of the lack of supply. We believe that this is not going to hurt the local fishing people who are there. It's going to help entice more sales locally and bring better returns for the local fishermen.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Part of the reason that the government is pushing this fish plant is because nobody quite knows what is happening with Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation in the near future. Since the Minister has a direct channel to Ottawa, could the Minister please let us know what the GNWT knows about the future plans for freshwater? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The department has been in contact with the DFO and, at present, they still have not indicated what the future plans are regarding the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation, but they have expressed to me and the Premier for sure that they want to ensure that the inland fishery survives, and sustainably, moving forward, and we will continue to update this House as we get more information of what DFO's plans are. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
