Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the answer to that. It is interesting that this government took that approach, and the Alberta government decided that Canada needed to be specifically excluded from paying the tax. From the small amount of information that we have received, what the GNWT wants to do is save $250,000 a year by not paying the hotel tax in Yellowknife. Is that a correct summary? Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Once again, I would like to ask about timing. I don't get any sense of whether this is a six-month or six-year project. Could the Minister clarify that, please?

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. That would be a great answer if there was already a visitors' centre and we were looking at replacing it, but the fact is that the visitors' centre is now in the boardroom at the city hall. There doesn't seem to be an end point to the collaboration and discussions and planning, which I personally don't find very satisfying. Is the Minister able to expedite this in any way? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this listing of projects doesn't say anything about the Yellowknife Visitors' Centre. Could the Minister update us on the plan to replace the Yellowknife Visitors' Centre? Thank you.

I am pulling out my wish list. I got a yes, so I am going for it. There is hope. In the meantime, prior to the legislative change, can the Minister commit to providing more staff at the rental office so that the written orders can be made available sooner?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Justice. The Rental Office has made some positive changes in getting clients to the hearing stage, but the wait for written decisions often adds up to three months. The Rental Officer, in her most recent report, says, "Amending the Act to be consistent with Alberta's legislation would immediately reduce wait times for both hearing dates and issuance of orders. By releasing the time spent writing reasons for decision that have already been given orally at hearing, more time would be available to complete other duties." My...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Nothing further.

Yes, thank you. Well, given the amount of money that tourism is bringing to the territory, I think that the more quickly we can get to providing better services for visitors, the more successful we will be in building up our tourism numbers.

I want to ask some questions as well about the parks. The North Slave parks are very heavily used, often by people who live in the North Slave. My question is whether there are any plans to expand any of the North Slave parks or to develop any new parks, for example in the Tlicho or Deh Cho areas. Thank you.

Yes, thank you. I would appreciate him doing that. We are now a year and a half without a visitors' centre and with no firm plan to replace it. Being able to say when that might happen, to accept themselves' goal, to reach, I think would be very useful. If he could do that, that would be helpful.

On the topic of the visitors' centre, has the Minister determined what will happen to the old visitors' centre, the one that is currently boarded up? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Could the Minister please indicate when he expects these discussions to come to some kind of culmination? Thank you.