Michael Nadli

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, [English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, it is with deep sorrow that I acknowledge a tragedy that happened on the K'atlodeeche Reserve. A house fire claimed the life of a family member, and another is in critical condition and was medevaced to Edmonton.

Last night I was made aware of the tragic house fire on the Hay River Reserve. I immediately felt sad and sorry for the loss of life and the family that was affected by this tragedy. On behalf of my colleagues of this House, I express my condolences for the family, relatives, and communities of the K...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No further questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to maybe get the Minister to maybe just repeat that. He indicated that there's $5 million designated towards parks, and am I correct, $8 million towards tourism initiatives? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair; that's good to know. The reason why I'm asking is, if maybe a community or a region were interested in perhaps establishing a park, is there any criteria set or are there any factors to be considered that ITI perhaps would consider in discussions with communities in terms of future parks that could be possibly expanded? What would be the factors or criteria that determine if a park could be established? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My interest is in terms of page 211, the community tourism infrastructure and to the bottom of tourism, the various initiatives in the range of at least $5.5 million for this initiative. So I'm just trying to understand just how many territorial parks that we might have in the NWT. I understand, like, in my riding there are six territorial parks, so I just wanted to understand whether this department has a figure in terms of the total territorial parks that exist in the NWT? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think the scope of possibilities has widened in terms of how perhaps this department can maybe refocus its energy if the oil and gas industry is non-existent. So I'm just trying to understand whether this department would be perhaps a lead agency in terms of engaging. You know, there may be some consideration of developing at least the infrastructure so that in eventually, maybe 10 years, 20 years down the road, there's a need to access the oil fields and the gas fields that more likely haven't been found yet.

Is there perhaps some consideration of examining the pipeline...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I had some questions in regard to the petroleum industry in terms of I think it's been stated that in terms of the potential outlook for this industry to exist and operate in the NWT, you know there's no prospect of, or likely any form of, activity in this economic sector for the next 10 years. So understanding that, over the course of at least the past three years or so we've seen a fairly consistent decline in terms of petroleum resources in terms of how this department engages oil and gas companies in terms of their activity in the NWT plus communities as...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I talked about the Aboriginal Tourism Business initiatives that could be advanced by this government, so my question is to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. One of the challenges that we have as an impediment in the small communities is that sometimes we have bureaucracy and red tape that becomes an impediment and a challenge. One example is Aboriginal businesses, especially in small communities, want to take on boat tours and there's the challenge of getting the proper boat insurance. So my question is to the Minister, as I said earlier...

No further questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to clarify the Minister's reply. If I understand him correctly, for the three communities, including Fort Providence, Kakisa, Enterprise, they are serviced out of Hay River. Am I correct? Thank you.