Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to follow up on my statement on tourism whereas there are potential reductions. I’d like to ask the Minister of ITI, being that tourism is one of the NWT’s highest goals and objectives, I’m surprised that we will be facing some reductions. I’m just wondering why we are heading in this direction when we should be supporting and enhancing the tourism sector.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. David Ramsay.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for the question. Certainly we heard the Finance Minister with his budget address earlier today, we’re trying to maintain what we have as a government. We’re spending $10.4 million on tourism and we do have the Tourism 2015 plan where we’ve got $1 million earmarked annually specific to some marketing initiatives and also Aboriginal tourism initiatives across the territory. We do need to look for ways as we go forward and our revenues do grow, look for opportunities to get some more money into marketing and product development here in the Northwest Territories. I see us advancing this. I see Tourism 2015 as a way we can do that.
Certainly if we look at our neighbours in the Yukon, their marketing budget is much more than ours but at some point in time there will be a highway down the Mackenzie Valley and our transportation infrastructure will be to a degree where we will see increased tourism traffic here in the Northwest Territories and our budgets will increase accordingly. Thank you.
If the Minister is talking about increased volumes, then it certainly has been increased in the last few years and yet we’re faced with some reductions in our tourism budget. I just don’t see it and my constituents don’t see it. Every little dollar helps our NWT economy, Mr. Speaker.
Once again, I’d like to ask the Minister what prompted him to reduce our budgets. It’s been increasing in the nine years that I’ve been MLA and now this is the first time I’ve seen our tourism budget reduced, Mr. Speaker.
I wasn’t aware that we were reducing the budgets in tourism. Over the past five years we’ve also come up with $5.6 million in the Tourism Product Diversification funding. Again, this year, in this budget there is $10.4 million earmarked for tourism.
Again, maybe the Member could just clarify where he believes the reductions are coming, because I haven’t seen any reductions and I don’t believe we’re reducing in any area in regard to tourism. Thank you.
Before I began this discussion, I had a discussion with our staff, and I’ll try to stay away from the budget numbers there, but certainly I will be raising it more specifically in Committee of the Whole. The overarching thing is the concern that there is a reduction of about $300,000 there, Mr. Speaker. However, there is also some passive restraint going on with the NWT tourism. There’s $400,000 being held back and that’s creating concern for the people that depend on this, on government funding and the support.
Once again, I’d like to ask the Minister how is it that our government continues to repress our tourism budget when they’re there saying that they support tourism. Thank you.
We will get to the detail that the Member is talking about, but certainly the message from this government is that we support tourism. Again, it’s $10.4 million, and as we go forward I think it’s very important that we find more money to go into marketing initiatives.
We’ve had a great deal of success working with our neighbours, Nunavut and the Yukon, on a pan-territorial approach. I see that continuing as we go forward. We need to find other ways to market the Northwest Territories. I believe as revenues increase and opportunities present themselves, we should take advantage of those opportunities.
Certainly, we support tourism. As the Member mentioned in his opening statement today, tourism has the potential to provide some real economic activity in every one of our 33 communities in the Northwest Territories and that’s something that’s not lost on the government.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
