Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was pleased to hear the Minister of ITI’s comments today about tourism and parks and I think our staff has done a great job. The residents of the Northwest Territories, however, have been asking for longer access to these parks as the seasons seem to be getting longer, or maybe we’ve had an exceptionally good year. I’m wondering if the department is looking at being a little bit more flexible in getting these parks opened longer and starting a little bit earlier when the weather allows.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve had the discussion with the Member on a previous request to the department on hours and operation of the parks in the South Slave near the community of Hay River. I’ve also had that discussion with a number of residents here in the North Slave. I’ve also had the discussion recently with the MLA for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses. It certainly is an issue and I think it’s something I’ve committed to looking at, going back to the department and seeing where it’s possible to amend contracts and to allow, weather permitting, parks to be open and operated for longer periods of time. Thank you.
I understand the financial commitments with contracts myself, but I’m wondering if the department is willing to at least leave these parks open to access. Often the gates are locked, making it difficult for people who park on the highway, especially in the South Slave area. Kakisa, I know, is one other area. Is the department willing to at least leave the gates open during those times?
Again, I thank the Member. That is something we’re also looking at. It will be a comprehensive look at the operation times, hours, opening season of the parks, and how they’re operated and how that works. I look forward to working with the Members later on when we do this look into the operation of parks around the territory. Thank you.
Another area of concern that I have with the operation of the park is this year on September 15th, the close of the park was on a Saturday, which people were asked to leave the parks during that weekend. I’m wondering if the Minister would commit to looking at those dates and what those dates fall on as far as weekends, and allowing the access through the closest weekend and then shutting your parks down, not having people removed during the middle of the weekend. Thank you.
I spent eight years working in parks as a park officer. It’s been an issue for a long time and I’ve made a commitment today to the Member that it’s something that, as Minister, he has my commitment that we are going to take a look at this. Are there ways that this could be done better? Are there ways that, for example, when a park closes on a Saturday, that we can look at keeping it open at least until Monday. That makes sense.
It’s a short enough summer here in the Northwest Territories, and we have to take advantage of any opportunity we have to get the public and to get visitors out at our campgrounds around the Northwest Territories, and it’s something I feel strongly about. So it’s something we’re going to take a good run at and I thank the Member for bringing it up. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other area of concern that I’ve heard about in the parks area is the on-line booking of the campsites, and my colleague was questioning this earlier. One of the areas of concern that I’ve heard is the fact that some of these stalls are being booked for guests that are coming and they never show up, and some people have been turned away because the booking has been done on-line already. Is there an allotment of certain ones that are being done for on-line and certain ones that are not being done on-line, and are they reviewing that on-line policy after completing one year?
Thank you. I believe the on-line reservation system has been in place for a number of years now. To get to the detail of the Member’s question, I’d certainly have to take a look at that and we’ll get back to the Member with a response. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
