Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to follow up to my Member’s statement earlier, talking about tourism. In the NWT, the NWT has the second lowest tourism marketing budget of all regions throughout Canada, with a return of investment of over $100 million into the territory.
I would like to ask the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment what is his department doing to compete with these other jurisdictions so that we remain competitive in the marketplace in terms of tourism. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, I think it is important that we work with what we have. I believe between the Northwest Territories Tourism and the staff at ITI, we do the best job we can with the money we have. We have some great staff up in the Member’s region working in tourism. Certainly, we could always use more money when it comes to marketing. That is something that perhaps, over the next few years, we will be able to realize some additional dollars to go into tourism marketing here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, my next question is in regard to the communities and regions that do provide some very unique and innovative tourism packaging or excursions that we don’t get to see throughout other parts of the NWT. If we don’t increase the budget in our tourism, if that should fail, what is the commitment of the Minister to get more funding out to these regions and communities so that when we have workshops, like we did in the community of Hay River and Inuvik, those projects get the funding in the budgets that they need to run a successful tourism project? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we do have some funding. We have the Tourism 2015 plan that focuses on six investment components, marketing and Aboriginal tourism and community industry engagement. Certainly, we need to be working with entrepreneurs in the regions and the communities.
As I mentioned numerous times in the House, tourism provides the greatest opportunity in all of our communities to bring some real economic benefit to the communities. We have to find folks in the communities that are willing to take those risks and get involved in business. Certainly, if they are willing to do that, we have programs and services that will help them get to where they need to be. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, with great projects like we just had in Inuvik here with the working group meeting for a full day and coming up with a nice, detailed plan and looking at following up in terms of getting this project off the ground and providing some kind of economic base up in an area that’s really needing that economic boom, the department did support that day-long workshop.
What is the department willing to commit to in terms of funding to the Beaufort-Delta region should they move forward on this project and meeting the resources that they need? What is the department willing to do and commit to? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories Tourism is hosting its AGM next week, and gala. I would certainly like to hear more about the opportunities the Member talks about in the Beaufort-Delta. Certainly, we have supported other initiatives in the Beaufort-Delta, most recently $50,000 to the Inuvik Golf Association to help with the golf course up there. We are looking for opportunities to get funding into the Beaufort-Delta, so I would be more than happy to discuss opportunities with the Member to see how ITI could help. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the high cost of living in the North with all three regions – Yukon, Nunavut and here in the Northwest Territories – and the downturn in the economy not only in the Northwest Territories but throughout Canada and the world, what is the department doing to look at a pan-territorial plan forward to work with other neighbouring jurisdictions to get more tourism up in the Arctic and across the North? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we’ve had success in the past working with both Nunavut and the Yukon Territory in advancing marketing initiatives, and I look back to Northern House in the Vancouver Olympics. Through our involvement in the Pacific Northwest Economic Region with PNWER, we are exploring ways that we can work with the State of Alaska and the Yukon government to pursue some joint marketing initiatives under that banner. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
