Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Will the Minister provide an update on the how-to booklet and the number of community visits that have been completed to date? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for his questions. We have two booklets we are going to be producing in relation to the harvest of morel mushrooms. The first will be an information brochure, which will be targeted to community leaders, educators, Aboriginal organizations, associations, government departments and the general public. The brochure will offer readers information on the harvest of morel mushrooms. The brochure will be published and distributed through our regional offices at ITI and also through ENR regional offices and be made available on both department websites.
The second document will involve the production of a how-to pocketsize booklet aimed at harvesters. There will be three separate booklets prepared, one for each region, North Slave, South Slave and the Deh Cho. The booklets will be region-specific in terms of information and emergency contacts with a map of the burn areas in each region. The North Slave booklet will speak to the Tlicho Final Agreement and the need to ensure harvesters gain the appropriate authorizations in order to harvest on Tlicho land. The booklets will provide at-a-glance instruction about morel mushrooms, where to find them, what they look like, maps of the burn areas, harvesting methodology, harvester/buyer interaction, tools and equipment needed and what to watch out for. I know the Member mentioned bears earlier. Certainly bear safety is something people should be aware of.
The target audience, of course, is the harvesters. Production will be in the range of 1,500 to 2,000 coloured booklets. Again, they will be distributed through ITI regional offices and also regional offices of Environment and Natural Resources. Thank you.
It’s been suggested by a person that has experienced the mushroom harvest last year that this initiative could be a great investment by this government and that similar policy initiatives and programs could be very similar to the Grubstake Program. The mushroom harvest is potentially a multi-million dollar industry.
Does the Minister have specific strategies that would assist Aboriginal governments to capitalize on this economic opportunity? Mahsi.
We certainly understand the benefit of supporting the morel mushroom harvest in the Northwest Territories. Everyone knows what a horrendous fire season the Northwest Territories endured last summer. This year we are going to have a real good crop of morel mushrooms. We are planning community visits in the South Slave coming up starting next week. We’ll be at the Hay River Reserve February 23rd, in Hay River in the evening of February 23rd, Fort Resolution on the evening of the 24th, Fort Smith on February 25th, Enterprise on February 26th and Kakisa on February 27th. We are also hoping to get into other communities in the South Slave and North Slave. In addition to that we’re also going to be conducting walking workshops. When the season does open for morels, we will have guided trips into the burn area, so we can bring people in and show them how to harvest morel mushrooms for themselves. Thank you.
Can the Minister let us know if any follow up has happened to ensure that buyers have a business licence? Is the government adequately equipped and staffed to provide this oversight? Mahsi.
In order to conduct business in the Northwest Territories, legally they are required to have a business licence to carry out business or business pursuits in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the last discussions I had with the Minister in this House, the Minister had indicated that travel will be done either through the Minister’s office or his officials in the communities. It’s quite surprising those visits haven’t been done. The other point I want to make leading up to my final supplementary is that no strategies should entail in terms of how is it communities will be in a position to take advantage of this opportunity that’s going to happen this summer. Last year Trout River and Jean Marie River areas saw lots of people go into the communities.
Has there been a report done in terms of the experiences we have had and how have we learned from that? Mahsi.
I’m certain that regional offices in the Deh Cho had prepared reports. I could try to get a copy of the report that was prepared by the regional office. One of the clear messages that we have to send to these guys if they come back up next summer is we are going to have to try to get an able-bodied workforce here in the Northwest Territories from our communities that can go out and harvest morel mushrooms. They can leave their pickers at home because we should have pickers here in the Northwest Territories that can go out and get the work and make the money themselves, and those pickers can stay down south. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
