Herbert Nakimayak

I appreciate the response. The Minister mentioned celebrations on April 21st and also the grand opening November 15th and the opening in July 2018. Mr. Speaker, I'm curious to know: how much will the territorial and federal governments contribute to opening ceremonies for the highway?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Transportation. Mr. Speaker, earlier I had talked about the completion of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway, and my first question to the Minister is: what work remains to be done on the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway before it is considered complete? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this winter is the last chance to drive the seasonal ice road between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. Next winter, the frozen path will be replaced by an all-season overland highway, a project that has been planned for decades.

Mr. Speaker, the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway is an extension of the Dempster Highway, a famous road that follows an old dog sled trail and gets its name from Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector William John Duncan Dempster.

In 1958, the Canadian government decided to build a road through the Arctic wilderness from Dawson City to Inuvik...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the direction. Mr. Speaker, my final question for the Minister is: what is the government doing to commemorate the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk winter road and the people with expertise that went into this annual construction and maintenance? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I won't be very long. My colleagues stated a lot of the obvious and actually answered a lot of questions that I had.

With my colleague from the Sahtu, I agree that, if we are going to pay maybe $5 or $10 for a ticket, I don't think it would change anybody's mind to come to travel to the Northwest Territories. I think, when you look at the business model of it into the future, I think Yellowknife is probably the place that will benefit most out of this, and I think a lot of the surrounding communities will benefit, as well, from having tourists and clients. For myself...

It's good to see that the departments are working together to collect this data which is important for funding programs. Actually, that leads to my third question, Mr. Speaker: how does ENR work with the hunters' and trappers' associations to collect accurate data from harvesters?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Earlier today I spoke about the importance of the traditional economy. Mr. Speaker, my question is: how many people subscribe to the Genuine Mackenzie Fur Program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the loss of one's livelihood can be devastating to harvesters in the Northwest Territories, the impact of unforeseen events that severely damage a person's normal ability to work in many ways.

Mr. Speaker, the Hunters' and Trappers' Disaster Compensation Program is available in the event that a traditional harvester in the Northwest Territories suffers loss or damage to equipment or assets because of a natural disaster. The program is delivered by the Department of ENR through the Wildlife Division.

Harvesters who possess a general hunting licence or are land...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, my final question is: how does ENR work with hundreds of trappers' associations to ensure its program such as the Hunters and Trappers' Disaster Compensation Program are responsive to the needs of harvesters and the evolution of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's good to see that quite a large number of trappers apply to this program. Mr. Speaker, my second question is: how does ENR work with ITI to measure the value of the traditional harvesting economy in the Northwest Territories?