Brendan Bell

Thank you, Madam Speaker. One of the things that we sought out to do when we sat down to do our analysis of roles and responsibilities of the department, vis-a-vis the industry association, was to better understand who is doing what currently, to talk about who should be doing what and to address some gaps.

One of the gaps that we felt in tourism in the Northwest Territories was regional representation; in fact, regional impact on the ground across all regions of the Northwest Territories. We think that there are compelling arguments to be made for tourism money to be spent everywhere and...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In keeping with the Member for Great Slave's statement, I would like to recognize two AFS exchange students in my riding: Johan Lundeberg who is from Sweden;

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Gustuva Cabrera from Paraguay. Both students, I understand, are staying with the Harbichts. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Three of the local factories are approved as northern manufacturers and are drawing down on the rough made available for northern manufacturers. The Deton'Cho Corporation, Canada Dene Diamonds that involves a company, Schachter and Namdar, is one of those companies; Arslanian with their original factory is another; and the third will be the new Sirius factory owned by the Arslanian shareholders. The one that is not drawing the 10 percent is the Laurelton factory which has agreements outside of that process.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Government of the Northwest Territories Contracts over $5,000 Report for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2005. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. We believe it is an enhancement of the current model and will allow for additional funding to flow into regions, but we talked about working with our tourism partners, by sector, and with regional and community organizations in order to make sure that tourism money is able to best hit the ground. Obviously, we will be talking with aboriginal governments and the relevant organizations in the regions to talk about how we can best achieve that. So going forward as we sit down with committee and industry and have a better handle on what this model will look like, we will...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm not sure I'm clear or maybe I just don't understand the question. The money generated, the additional GDP generated in the Northwest Territories, I have given the Member those figures in the statement. Those are some projections for the 2004-05 season. We believe that the vast majority of that money stays in the Northwest Territories. Obviously there is some leakage. I don't think that we are able to quantify what the leakage would be, but it would be no different than any other jurisdiction, I don't believe, in that most of the money probably stays and is...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, beginning this year, the month of June will be designated as Tourism Month in the Northwest Territories.

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Tourism Month will celebrate the tourism industry of the Northwest Territories and highlight the importance of this vital sector to our economy. Similarly, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada has designated June as Tourism Month in Canada and national celebrations will be seen across the country.

Tourism dollars are new dollars to the economy and flow into each community through the tourism operators and the various local service...

Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, be read for the second time.

Madam Speaker, this bill changes the definition of “employee” to include persons who perform services as appointees, volunteers and students and persons who perform services under contracts and agency relationships. Employees are prohibited from disclosing personal information without authorization. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Our message to everybody who is interested in seeing this project move forward and to all northerners is that this government's support for the project is unwavering. We believe that the people on the ground in the communities are eagerly anticipating the project.

We want to see this happen, we want the economic benefits that can come from a development like this, but we want to make sure it’s done in the appropriate manner. We’re very confident that the environmental review process, the cooperation plan that’s been laid out, is a comprehensive review process that...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 5, An Act to Amend the Judicature Act, be read for the second time.

Madam Speaker, this bill amends the Judicature Act to include provisions enabling the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal to make orders preventing persons who have brought vexatious proceedings or conducted proceedings in a vexatious manner from commencing or continuing court proceedings without leave. Thank you, Madam Speaker.