Julie Green

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have seen incredible growth in tourism during the period of the Tourism 2020 plan, and this sector of our economy needs more support than it currently gets. My question for the Minister is: will the new plan include more money for both community investment and product development than the current plan has? Thank you.

As I understand that answer, two points are prominent. One is that it is our fault for not asking, and the other is that SEED is the alternative. Are those, in fact, the case?

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to introduce the mayor-elect of Yellowknife and my constituent, Rebecca Alty. I would also like to recognize Nicole Latour, who is also my constituent, and thank her for her ongoing work running elections in our territory. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Small Business Week, and to shine a light on small business in the tourism sector in particular. There is more we can do to build on and enhance their success and to enrich the experience and opportunities of visitors to the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I went to Iceland at the beginning of June for 10 days. Seven of those days were spent on a carefully curated knitting tour of western Iceland. The remainder was spent in and around the capital city of Reykjavik. The scenery was breathtaking, the people were hospitable, and...

Mr. Speaker, the pie is pretty big at $1.8 billion. I think there are different ways that it can be sliced. As someone else in this House has already pointed out today, when money is needed on an emergency basis, it's there. The pie seems to get bigger as needed, so this is a conversation that we will have in the Committee of the Whole on the capital budget and during the O and M budget in the winter.

My final question is about the feasibility of winterizing one campground north of Great Slave Lake and one south to accommodate late-season travellers. I noted when I went to Hay River about three...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my concern is that, when it comes to community infrastructure, we are not seeing significant new investments. For example, we heard from my colleague from Nunakput about the lack of tourism services in Tuktoyaktuk, despite years of road development and the anticipation of tourism being a big draw there. Likewise, we don't have a visitors' centre here in Yellowknife, so my question is: what kind of investment can we expect before the end of this term, in real economic diversification in tourism?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. I fear the Minister is not walking the talk on diversification. Tourism represents a tremendous opportunity for our economy for diversification, but we do need considerable investment to make the most of it, for example, in community infrastructure. He has said that, in this biggest-ever capital budget, we will see all kinds of goodies, but what I see here is incremental changes rather than new projects. Can he tell me whether there are any new tourism infrastructure projects in the capital...

As the Minister knows, the Tourism 2020 plan is moving towards expiry. I am interested to know what work is taking place now to create Tourism 2025.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. The tourism industry, as we know, continues to grow, and spending more money on product diversification makes sense, but the budget for this program is over-subscribed and it is now currently unavailable. What is the Minister's plan to increase investment in this vital program? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi, colleagues. The Icelandic government has made investment in this sector a priority, and the metrics of money earned and people employed are impressive. It is time for our government to increase its investment in product diversification, so that visitors will, as I said, stay longer and spend more. I will have questions for the Minister of ITI. Mahsi.