Wally Schumann

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the follow document entitled "Yellowknife Airport Five-Year Business Plan 2017-2018 to 2021-2022." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are working with a number of people on moving this forward. The first part of it is what do we need to have the existing fishermen trained up to participate in fishing on the lake and have all the qualifications needed to do that.

We are also looking at a second part of how do we bring new, younger fishermen into the process, what type of training they need to be able to access the lake and do it in a safe manner. We are looking at a different approach, as well, with a number of other proponents about how we can bring training to the fishing industry in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, we are in the planning stage right now, figuring this out. The department is the lead. Hopefully, we will be able to break ground in the spring.

As I said, I think we have some property identified moving forward and working with the Town of Hay River. I suspect construction will probably take at least a year for a facility that size.

As of this morning, I am not even sure if this is exactly where the highway accident has taken place, but this has been an issue for the Member in the last two or three sittings that we have talked about this section of highway. I can reassure the Member and all residents of the Northwest Territories that the Highway Improvement Safety Plan that the Department of Infrastructure has is guided by the Transportation Association of Canada, and we build all of our highways in the Northwest Territories to this standard. We do routine patrols, like I have said. We get input from residents in the...

As I have said, we work very closely with the Fishermen's Federation on this. Moving forward, it is agreed by both parties that the Government of the Northwest Territories would own the facility. They figure this is the best direction for the development of the industry and we will continue to work with the Fishing Federation on moving this initiative forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My understanding in talking with the federal government on this report coming forward is that there is some sensitive information there that we might not be able to share publicly, but I believe, whatever we can share publicly, we will be able to do that.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is following through on its mandate to strengthen connections with public sector partners in order to invest in strategic transportation infrastructure.

Improving and extending our highways system helps connect communities, reduces the cost of living, improves the resiliency of our transportation system to climate change, and increases access to natural resources. I am proud to say we have carried out improvements to almost every highway in the Northwest Territories over the past two years. These improvements have been possible thanks to...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents entitled "Economic Opportunities Strategy: Connecting Businesses and Communities to Economic Opportunities – Performance and Measures Report, 2016-2017" and "Grants and Contributions Results Reports 2016-2017." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can certainly talk to the department and see whether we can release publicly to the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The manufacturing strategy that we tabled gives us an opportunity, I think, to reimagine how we approach supporting manufacturing in the Northwest Territories. It is an opportunity for us to possibly rethink how we re-categorize manufacturers and look at new policy ideas that could help bring more businesses to the manufacturers in the NWT and local manufacturers as well, but also use it to build a stronger relationship with the manufacturing community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.