Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of ITI. I have asked the Minister previously, and again I ask, if she has read the report from the ministerial advisory panel which examined alternate governance and ownership models for the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do have a copy of the advisory panel documents, the report, and I will review. It is an exciting time, especially if this does evolve into being a harvester-led-and-owned entity. We are very excited for this project to move forward, and there is no anticipation that we would not; we're just trying to figure out how that's going to go. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
One important recommendation from the panel is the inclusion of fishers' participation in FFMC by drawing board members from fishers and fisher organizations. This government appointed a bureaucrat to the board. I ask the Minister if she will commit to reviewing this appointment and consider appointing a northern fisher to the board.
Thank you to the Member for the question. The department of fisheries and oceans is reviewing the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation and how harvesters will have more of an equity stake. The role of FFMC is critical to the Northwest Territories and how this transition to a federated cooperative will impact fishers across Great Slave Lake. It is quite possible that the FFMC becomes a cooperative entity and that the current board would dissolve. The new federated cooperative entity would be represented by fishers; however, in the meantime, until that happens, I do commit to the Member at looking at this appointment.
I appreciate that answer. The next one is: what is the Minister's department doing to financially assist the NWT fishers, beyond the current programs, who are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic?
For the 2020 fiscal year, the department will provide additional freight payments for the remote locations to support the strategic goals outlined in the strategy for revitalizing the Great Slave Lake commercial fishery of 10 cents per pound for zones 2 and 3 and 20 cents per pound for zones 4 and 5, which, in turn, will increase cash liquidity to fishers for seasonal start-up activities. The regional office has been having conference calls with the fishers every two weeks. Discussions have been held to provide updates on the status of FFMC, the status of ITI programs, and new safety programs. We haven't received any concerns about the lack of funding support, but I ask staff to confirm on the next call on Thursday with the fishers that that's the case. If not, I commit to coming back to the Member and having a discussion with him about those concerns.
I also want to say that I've recently, myself, met with a local fisher, so I have also been taking some time to at least continue to hear and engage with that industry so that I know what's going on, so that when we are moving forward with the fish plant, I am more informed.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now, for the $9 million question: what is the status of the proposed fishing plant for Hay River, and will the Minister commit to providing me with a briefing on this project? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The department is finalizing a processing footprint for the proposed new plant to bring it within budget. Proposed processing volumes have been reduced, and plant size reduced to approximately 10,000 square feet. As the Member will remember, the proposals received were well over the budget of money allocated. The region is working with Infrastructure on this project, and it is hoped that Infrastructure will be finalizing a tender delivery process this summer with an award this fall. I do commit to having a more fulsome discussion and briefing with the Member and anyone else that he would like to bring from his business community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
