Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on the subject of business supports, the Government of Yukon announced yesterday, I believe -- may have been announced before but I just saw it yesterday -- a million dollar fund to help Yukon-based businesses adjust to any additional costs caused by tariffs, the illegal and unjustified tariffs from the Americans. Is -- what are we doing to support our own businesses? I don't see a fund in this budget. I have heard no announcements. This seems like a good idea. Is the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment considering bringing forward a similar fund that is flexible, supports northern businesses, keeps jobs in the North, and protects northern businesses? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of ITI.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, right now the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is certainly watching what's happening. They've got a close working relationship with our Chambers of Commerce, industry representatives, as well as business associations in the Northwest Territories. I think it's crucial at this time that we're very open and honest about what the impacts are. We don't have an indication of doing -- or sorry, we don't have a plan right now of launching a program because I think it's really important that we see what the impacts are. There are a lot of businesses that are looking to changing who they currently source items for and switching to Canadian suppliers, which I think is incredibly important in this. But until we know what the impacts are, it's hard for us to design a program that actually gets to the crux of what some of those challenges will be. And until we also see the responses from the Canadian government, we need to ensure we're not duplicating efforts as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mean, I'm curious as to why the Yukon feels they need to do this, but maybe that's something the Minister could speak to her territorial counterparts. I'm sure businesses would be assured by that. There are a number of other things we can do by eliminating the red tape, reducing fees and services, make it cheaper to do business for northern businesses and Canadian businesses. Will the Minister undertake to do that work, to find ways she can cut those fees and barriers to doing business in the Northwest Territories to protect Canada's interest in the NWT? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. That certainly is the work being done at the committee on internal trade, and the NWT is a very active partner in that table in regards to, you know, why one jurisdiction might react differently than another. We all have different trading partners, we all have different trading activities and different investments in it, and so how we react across the country is certainly going to be different, but at the end of the day we are certainly very committed to being part of Team Canada right across the board, but our pathways to success in that may look different. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the work the Minister's doing at the FPT table -- it's important work -- but I want to know what work we're doing here because we can't wait for that interprovincial work to support our own businesses. People are worried now. Plus, this is an opportunity to actually support businesses locally by acting on a lot of these concerns that have been brought up over time. So will the Minister commit to working with the NWT Chamber of Commerce, the regional Chambers of Commerce, and find ways that we can reduce barriers to business, make -- bring the costs to do so down, perhaps even lower taxes. But will the Minister make that commitment to start that work immediately and not waste another day because time is of the essence, and we need to make sure that the NWT is put first in our decisions as we move forward into an uncertain future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, about three minutes ago I was committed to those relationships, and I remain committed to them. I agree with the Member that those relationships are what are going to let us know how the tariffs are impacting the North, and that information is absolutely critical. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
