Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 100(4) and move Committee Report 9-18(3) into Committee of the Whole for consideration later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I appreciate where the Member is coming from. I know many Northerners are constantly concerned about the ever-increasing cost of living, especially those in small communities.

However, what these amendments were designed to do is to empower cities, towns, and villages to implement taxes to support tourism opportunities in their communities. When the standing committee consulted with all of the six cities, towns, and villages that would be subject to these new bylaw provisions, the vast majority of them spoke in favour of the City of Yellowknife being allowed to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

During the course of this review, the Honourable Alfred Moses, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, twice advised the committee that he would not consider amendments that committee was proposing to the bill because the department had not consulted with their partner organizations on the committee's proposals.

While acknowledging that it is the Minister's prerogative to concur with committee's amendments or not, committee reminds the Minister that standing committees have the authority to carry out their own consultation on a given bill and to propose amendments...

Further to that, in the future, when developing tax proposals such as these, can the Minister commit to providing more financial details to allow committee to properly assess things like this when it's made available? Because it would greatly improve our ability to assess the viability of these potential tax initiatives. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, tourism is big business in the Northwest Territories. Last year more than 100,000 visitors travelled to the NWT, and spending also reached an all-time high at $200 million. The results are expected to be even higher for this past year. It's unsurprising that many entrepreneurs are building businesses based on the success of our tourism market. Unfortunately, not all these individuals are playing by the same rules.

Mr. Speaker, I have heard several complaints from licensed tourism operators in Kam Lake who raise serious concerns around illegal outfits exploiting tourism...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Some of the evidence committee collected in its hearings included a finance estimate produced by the Days Inn and Suites based on industry information, and their estimate was around $1.1 million of revenue. Further, the list of exemptions currently contained in this bill would consume around 30 to 40 percent of total revenues. Does the Minister agree with that estimation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Bill 18 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on May 29, 2018 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for a review. To commence consultation on Bill 18, the standing committee invited input on the bill from 99 hotel and bed and breakfast operators offering tourist accommodations in the six tax-based municipalities. This consultation list was kindly provided by the Department of Community and Municipal Affairs, who used to same list when consulting on the development of the bill. On behalf of the committee, I want to thank the...

I was going to say comments about fake news, but it appears the Minister has actually got some substantive replies, and I appreciate that.

One of the concerns that has been raised by, again, the internal correspondence that has been revealed through some of this reporting is that tourism officers don't feel that they have the resources to properly track the growth of these businesses and properly maintain enforcement.

The Minister talked about staffing positions that are currently in place, but based on what we are seeing, and based on these issues, is the Minister going to bring forward...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I talked about the issue of unlicensed tourism operators in the Northwest Territories. I'd like to ask the Minister of Industry Tourism and Investment if he can speak to these issues. Internal documents reveal a significant number of complaints concerning illegal tour operators in the NWT. When was the Minister first made aware of these illegal operations? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Committee Report 10-18(3) be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.