Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about our new endangered species, the outfitter, and the fact that they’ve been left not just holding the bag but worthless lodges, because of the direction that the caribou management has taken. Mr. Speaker, many of these lodges have the investment of many people, of generations of money, and are seen as their only opportunity for the future, but that opportunity has been pulled away.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister of ITI what is this government’s plan to do with these outfitters with these worthless lodges while they cannot attract customers to hunt on the Barren Lands or other places throughout the North? What is his plan for the outfitters? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For some time now we recognize that there has been a shift in the tourism priorities and what areas that the younger generation would be participating, and we recognize that the so-called consumptive tourism, the interests in hunting and fishing were declining. We undertook surveys to determine where the new demand for tourism would be focussed on. Our research has indicated that most people are interested in adventure tourism, ecotourism, so we introduced a program, a tourism diversification program, in 2007-08, to help existing outfitters begin to diversify into other areas and develop new tourism products. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister defines it as a shift in the market. I would call it more like a tourniquet. The reality is there are no eco-tourists showing up at the door. The phone isn’t ringing off the hook. It would cost hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars to decommission these lodges. The outfitters are left holding the bag waiting for this turnaround in the caribou market, if I may define it as that, which is almost impossible. What is the government doing to help either sustain these lodges through this downshift, which is easily predictable in the area of three to five years they will have to wait to restart, as well as is the government offering packages to help get some of these people out into either new industries or just out of this industry completely? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, since time immemorial, the people of the Northwest Territories recognized that the population of caribou and wildlife was volatile. It was recognized in the Northwest Territories Act where barren-ground caribou has been designated as game endangered of becoming extinct. Our own Wildlife Act recognized that and it developed a hierarchy of priorities for the use of wildlife. Commercial tags for caribou were the lowest priority.
Now, having said that, I already told the Member that we established a tourism diversification market and fund which we have spent $4.5 million dollars since 2007-08. We also met with the sports outfitters. They indicated that that program wasn’t for them because they couldn’t see themselves changing. So we set up a separate Tourism Marketing Fund for the outfitters in which there was $600,000. It was $300,000 last year. It is $600,000 this year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, it is great to have initiatives with pittance of a dollar called investment that they referred to, but the reality is the customers aren’t picking that up. What work has the government done to ensure that this has actually taken any effect in this industry or any industry on this so-called market shift?
The problem still remains: the customers are not coming and these outfitters are left with all of these lodges that are difficult to staff. No one wants to work there because they know they can’t make any money. Has the Minister investigated the realities of this so-called bailout program that doesn’t really do anything? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we have been working very closely with the outfitters and how to spend this money. For the most part, the outfitters have availed themselves of these funds. We have also put in business plans to continue this funding. We look forward to being able to work with the outfitters in future years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Minister’s own words, he said that, for the outfitters, this is not a program for them. So, Mr. Speaker, if he is hearing from the outfitters that this program doesn’t work for them, I am hearing from outfitters myself still even just recently as in a few minutes before session started, in an e-mail that the ink isn’t even dry. The program doesn’t work and is not for them.
Mr. Speaker, the reality is the only person this program works for is the person who does the allocation of these funds who sits in some ivory tower office not understanding what it is really like in these industries in trying to create business in momentum in the economy. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister go back and see if we can retool focus that works for outfitters? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I wonder how many programs the Member would like me to start. I already indicated that we have the Tourism Diversification Marketing Program. We also instituted the Sports Outfitter Marketing Program and outfitters are accessing those funds and there is still funding available this year. A lot of the outfitters are using those funds to put their lodges in care and maintenance so that they can keep them operating. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
