Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you enter the Northwest Territories, we are quite fortunate to have rest stops and campgrounds right from Enterprise leading up right to Yellowknife. My question is to the Minister of ITI.
In these campgrounds that we have, I wanted to come to an understanding. Right now we are at the height of tourism season starting. What kind of rate structure does ITI have for campgrounds for daily to long-term usage in the campgrounds? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Those rates would vary from campground to campground and region to region. We have our campgrounds operated by contractors. We also have seasonal passes that are available to the public and to tourists that travel into the Northwest Territories. The rates would vary somewhat from region to region. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, what are the common types of services that one can expect if you do use the campgrounds, or perhaps on weekends or daily rates? What kind of services should people expect? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, services available would be dependent on which park or campground the tourist would find themselves in. We are constantly looking at upgrading services and facilities in our campgrounds and parks around the Northwest Territories, but as Members know, it is always a challenge to find capital dollars to be putting into campgrounds.
We are fortunate enough to receive $2 million to upgrade facilities around the territory this year. We are looking forward to upgrading some facilities. Some would have shower buildings, kitchen shelters, and electrical hook-ups for RVs, depending on which campground you would be in. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as you know, we come from a culture of habit and respect for elders and especially senior citizens that travel long ways, especially as we turn to increase our potential in tourism. Why is there not discounted rates for senior citizens that use the campgrounds, especially as they travel a long way to be up here in the North? Mahsi.
That’s an issue that I can take back to the department, but predominantly tourists and folks that arrive in the Northwest Territories in RVs would be seniors. So we will take a look at that and I thank the Member for raising that concern. I do believe there are senior discounts on season-long passes. As to campground, a nightly rate, and there’s a discount for seniors, again, it may vary by park, but I’d be more than happy to get that information back to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
I’d like to thank the Minister for making a commitment, but I’d like to take it a step further. Can he commit to an immediate discount of rates to seniors, in terms of using the daily campgrounds, effective immediately? Mahsi.
That would be difficult in that we have contractors operating some of our parks around the Northwest Territories who would be looking for a certain revenue stream in the operation of those parks. So for this coming season I wouldn’t be able to commit to that, but as I mentioned to the Member, for next season we could work with contractors that aren’t offering discounts to senior citizens and see if we can come up with a plan to offer discounts to senior citizens in our campgrounds. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
