Steve Norn

It's the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation, just to make sure I got that right. Thank you for the response from Madam Premier. My next question is: how will putting the regulatory burdens on a struggling tourism business help us emerge strong from this pandemic? Why is a MACA licence now required for remote tourism operations?

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. This week is National Tourism Week, from May 24th to the 31st of this month, and I wish I could stand here today to celebrate the incredible success of my constituents, the Lutselk'e Dene First Nation, the LKDFN, for their leadership and successful acquisition of the Frontier Fishing Lodge, which has operated for 40 years on the doorstep and has a global reputation as one of the premier fishing lodges in the Northwest Territories, but unfortunately, I can't.

Mr. Speaker, in December 2019, the LKDFN purchased the lodge and the entire business, including the operating...

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. I move that we rise and report progress.

Thank you for the response again. I guess where I want to go with this is I want to get some assurances for people of the LKDFN and their business interests, to make sure that they get this up and running, because I think enough is enough. I think two months to get this up and running is far too long. I know that, if I was running a small business and if I had to start up, I would go under right now, so all this is really unacceptable. My next question is: what will the Minister do to resolve this issue so that community-owned businesses continue to operate under the same licensing terms and...

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. On the way here, I just want to share something that made me chuckle a little bit. I heard on the radio a song by the band called Cake. There is a line referencing finding somebody who isn't afraid to cut through red tape with a machete. It made me chuckle. You know, I thought that was a pretty good song, and it made me think about this. It made me think about my Member's statement today, and I thought I will get right into my line of questioning.

Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the Premier as Minister of MACA. It's quite simple: why is your department holding a...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress.

I do know that, also, we did have some online conversations about the fuel prices in Lutselk'e. I know that there was a point of contention, I guess, with the community, that their prices were so high like everybody else in the North and pay the lower price, and there are a lot of factors that go into that, and I know that they get fuel delivered once a year. Again, I just want to see if we get some commitment from the Minister and the department that we can see favourable change to these prices in the near future, I guess. Thank you.

Thank you. Nothing further.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Through this pandemic, we have had a lot of people go to the hospital sick. It has raised a lot of very sad stories that came across my desk, my e-mails. We have heard some of these terrible stories on the news about people being sick and dying alone because of COVID, and I was just praying that it never did, and I'm hoping it doesn't go that route.

I still had to make a lot of calls for some of my constituents because, as I mentioned before in my Member's statement, we like to do things as groups with our loved ones. I know that, if I was sick, terminally ill, I wouldn...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Nothing further.