Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am looking at page 211. I see that there are a number of funds that seem to do similar things, for example, Tourism 2020 and Tourism Industry Contribution. Has there been any thought put into amalgamating these funds just for the sake of efficiency? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I remain concerned that this division is overstaffed vis-a-vis other priorities of the GNWT, and I would encourage the Minister, in the next budget cycle, to consider how these non-specialist positions could be redeployed to economic diversification portfolios. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, can the Minister confirm that the legislation is being developed inhouse from existing resources and not contracted out? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The reason I am asking these questions is because I don't understand, given the current level of oil and gas activity in the NWT, why we are staffing an office with seven people, given the low level of activity. Why is it necessary to have seven people in this office? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So by my count, three or four of the positions are specialist positions and the other positions are more general. Does the Minister agree with that assessment? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that commitment by the Minister. This is the kind of reporting or evaluation that I'm asking for, is to look at the outcomes of the funding; not just to say that it happened, but what did it produce, and the more specific the better. I don’t have any further questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that endorsement. As the Minister of MACA, of course you have a close relationship with the NWT Association of Communities, and they've had a "drop the bottled water" resolution on their books for a number of years. So once you've persuaded the GNWT to go bottle-free, will you issue a challenge to your municipal partners to do the same? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm not doubting that the recipients are doing what they said they would do with that, but is this self-reporting or is this the department providing oversight on the self-reporting? How is this information determined? Thank you.

If the Minister is a champion for tap water, then can she take the lead in Cabinet and request her Cabinet colleagues to instruct their departments and agencies, the ones that are under their direction, to remove the bottled water coolers and also to direct them that bottled water will no longer be purchased with GNWT money?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in other parts of his portfolios, the Minister has been able to rhyme off statistics for dollars spent and benefits for the Northwest Territories economy. I am puzzled that he doesn't do a systematic evaluation of this program as well to ensure that money is well spent in this area. I wonder if the Minister has given any thought to a systematic evaluation of the Tourism Product Diversification Program? Thank you.