Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I talked about the Aboriginal Tourism Business initiatives that could be advanced by this government, so my question is to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. One of the challenges that we have as an impediment in the small communities is that sometimes we have bureaucracy and red tape that becomes an impediment and a challenge. One example is Aboriginal businesses, especially in small communities, want to take on boat tours and there's the challenge of getting the proper boat insurance. So my question is to the Minister, as I said earlier, recommendations for a strategic action plan on an Aboriginal tourism was released in 2013. What progress has been made towards settling guidelines for cultural experiences so that visitors know that they are paying for an authentic Aboriginal tourism product? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we tabled in this House here last fall, we tabled Tourism 2020 and it has a number of initiatives in that document: attract experience, Aboriginal tourism, community tourism and development, skills development, as well as tourism research and planning, and that's the focus areas of Tourism 2020. To answer his question directly on how do we work to promote Aboriginal tourism and cultural experiences, within that initiative, we moved forward, and one of the things is Aboriginal Tourism Champions Program. That's a new initiative in this. We built it on three previous ones that are still in there that are carried on and there's a bunch of new ones; but the one particular one is Aboriginal Tourism Champions Program, where an individual can come forward to work with the department and we will help them expand and improve authentic Aboriginal Tourism in the communities and help diversify products and initiatives for Aboriginal communities and Aboriginal Culture. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'd like to thank the Minister for his reply and it seems that there are great advances being made, and one of the examples that he's highlighting is the idea of mentorship. The second question is: what partnerships have been developed in support of Aboriginal Tourism for education, training, and funding product development? Perhaps maybe there's you know the ideal partnership with Aboriginal governments in each region that could possibly happen with this leadership.
The Member is quite right. We've worked on a number of initiatives, and the one particular one, to directly answer his question, is a Community Tourism Coordinator Program that has just been enhanced in the new 2020. The communities can come forward and put funding towards hiring this individual. I don’t believe that we totally fund the whole program. It would have to be a cost-shared basis with the communities or Aboriginal governments that want to come forward. We're even open to ideas of where multiple communities within a region may apply for this individual to help promote tourism and be the coordinator on that. As we've said, we've got the Aboriginal Tourism Champions Program that can come forward for each community.
Those are great initiatives that the department is undertaking and advancing. The whole tourism is about promotion, ensuring that people do know of the NWT and some of the unique gifts that we have to offer the world. So I wanted to follow up on the question in terms of the Community Tourism Coordinator, having an individual work with the community. Does that also mean the next step of perhaps communities developing a local tourism strategy for the communities?
That's exactly what this position would do. It would advance a regional product development of the region and packaging and the communities that hire this individual and work together, or Aboriginal governments that hire this person, to help them do exactly what the Member has said.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question is: has ITI considered broader partnerships in aligning efforts with the Yukon, Nunavut, and the Aboriginal Tourism initiatives in other parts of Canada? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
We continue to reach out to all the territories and provinces on how we can enhance Aboriginal tourism in the Northwest Territories. The last report that I read, there are 32,000 Aboriginal people involved in Aboriginal tourism across Canada, and I believe the initiatives that we brought forward in Tourism 2020 are only going to enhance and improve tourism in the Northwest Territories and reach out to the world and show that Aboriginal culture and our languages that we have here bring more people to the North.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
