Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Yukon government has been very creative and proactive in their support for the business community, with the creation of programs with CanNor that were rolled out six to eight weeks before our Northern Business Relief Fund. The Pivot Program at the Yukon University and the Tourism Accommodation Supplement are such examples. I'd like to ask the Minister of ITI: why has the GNWT been so slow in its response to the business community and resistant to meet with them, specifically in the hospitality industry? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I want to suggest that maybe, rather than slow, the response here has been different in terms of its approach. We certainly were, I would suggest, faster than the Yukon in terms of delivering some of the relief and expenses for the industry, but then, rather than rolling out money quickly, the Department of ITI here opted to wait and see how the federal government was going to be putting forward their programs and their money, which have been significant. The goal was to find a way to fill gaps rather than duplicate efforts. The Department of ITI has partnered with CanNor and provided relief funding in the form of the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund, as well as the GRIT Fund, which is directed specifically at the tourism industry.
Madam Speaker, I am also quite happy to say that one of the first things I had done as Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment was to actually cohost a tourism conference for all federal, provincial, and territorial Ministers of tourism to discuss the shared challenges we're all facing in this industry. I have also had the opportunity to meet with our local tourism association, and we are collaborating with them in terms of developing the GRIT funding, in terms of developing marketing programs that are obviously going to have to change for the short term. Again, we'll actually be attending tomorrow at the AGM put on by the Northwest Territories Tourism Association. The Department of ITI is very much involved with the tourism industry and is looking for ways to fill those gaps. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
For the most part, both the GNWT and the federal government have failed to provide the hospitality industry with relief funding that works. In order to apply for the Northern Benefit Relief Fund, businesses can only break even on a monthly basis, which is not sustainable given that they have gone months with little to no revenue. We have heard that taking on additional borrowing from the various loan programs is not suitable. Many of our hospitality businesses operate on such fine profit margins that they would go further into debt trying to pay off the loans. How will the GNWT support this vital sector to make sure we do not lose any further businesses?
I am glad that the dire situation that is facing hospitality is being spoken of here. I think that, as the Minister of Finance at one point, under that hat, I had spoken of the fact that we're seeing a recovery in so much of our employment sectors, but that is not true in the hospitality sector and the tourism industry. That is an area that is going to continue to be struggling for some time. Really, the response has to be to be able to fill those gaps, so the Business Advisory Council that was brought about by ITI to assist us in figuring out what the best ways are to support relief and recovery, they are coming out just now, or have come out just now, with identifying some of the gaps by looking at that. By speaking to them and, as I described in my last response, by engaging with the tourism sector, we will be able to make sure that we are best helping them fill those gaps, while acknowledging the vast number of needs that are being created by the COVID pandemic.
The GNWT is the largest client for the accommodation sector. Without any of the duty travel and no tourists coming in, their future is very bleak. We are currently slated to spend more than half of the COVID secretariat budget on isolation centres, but that contract was sole-sourced. Will the GNWT look at creating a program similar to the Yukon's Tourism Accommodation Supplement?
Yes. I am actively looking at that. That material came across earlier on, and right now the department is looking at what we can do and whether or not there are some elements of what's happening in the Yukon that we can adapt here. Similarly, with respect to the isolation centres, we are using, to some degree, some of that hospitality industry here with the isolation centres and are continuing to look at whether or not there are ways to better support the hospitality industry while having the isolation centres up and running. That is a very active question, and I am glad to have that question here on the floor.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am going to read something that was issued by the government yesterday. This is a quote from the Business Advisory Council: "With the hard work that the GNWT, the business community, and the residents of the Northwest Territories have put in over the last six months, we are optimistic that the territory will not have to go back to the restrictions required during phase 1 of Emerging Wisely. The Business Advisory Council will continue to work with the COVID secretariat and will be vigilant in monitoring its efforts to achieve the objectives of greater transparency, efficiency, and cost reductions." Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the COVID secretariat. Can the Minister tell us what she has been hearing from the business community with respect to spending these funds on the COVID Secretariat? Thank you.
That has been an evolving conversation, and one that has happened largely in the public sphere. It's not necessarily for me to speak for the private sector here on the floor, but the Business Advisory Council, I have had the opportunity to meet with them more than once already, as well as with the chambers, as well as with a number of individuals who are bringing attention to the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment at all times, around how to navigate their needs during COVID as well as how the government is navigating the need to support people, which is a large part of the COVID secretariat.
Again, once there is an understanding of what the secretariat is designed to do, why it is designed to that, and a recognition of the supports that it is providing to the residents of the Northwest Territories. I believe not only the Business Advisory Council but other business entities have actually come around and said that they indeed support the work of the secretariat, want it to continue, and recognize that it's because of the secretariat and, because all of the efforts in COVID, that we are not returning to a full lockdown, we're not returning to the doors closed, and that we're not shuttering the businesses as is so sadly happening across much of Canada, right now. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
