Wally Schumann

This isn't about just cutting up the pie to make it equal for everybody in the Northwest Territories. Tourism is a growing market in the Northwest Territories; we're using it as one of the main factors of diversifying our economy.

We have spent money all over the place trying to support the industry, not just in Yellowknife, which gets a significant amount of visitors. We are trying to spread it out across the territory to make our great land more accessible and more enjoyable for all tourism participants who come to the NWT.

We have community tourism coordinators, Aboriginal tourism, a...

I can tell the Member that we are continuing with the support that we gave the Northern Frontier Visitors' Centre. The same allocation is going to the City of Yellowknife in the interim moving forward, so whatever funding was not used up by the Northern Frontier Visitors' Centre in this fiscal year, the remaining amount will be going to the City of Yellowknife.

With the development of the Mackenzie Valley Genuine Valley Fur Program, the fur procurement programs by ITI, fewer harvesters are looking at owning tanning operations, or doing their own tanning operations.

I can speak to the department of the region in the South Slave actually looking at the exact same thing, I believe, that was proposed in the Beaufort Delta, a viable option of doing a tannery in the South Slave. When we get these results back, I would gladly share them with the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not have the exact year when the department looked into this initiative, but I know that they have looked into it, and with this initiative moving forward, they figured that the reasons that they could not proceed with it was the high capital cost of equipment, the facilities, high utility costs in the region, and waste management concerns, as there is a lot of processing that needs to take place. I think the other issue at the time was also the existing procurement of hides that would be available to make this a viable operation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can gladly try to get that information for the Member pulled back from the department and see what we have got for information. It was a joint venture, as I said, with the two Aboriginal groups and a local contractor from the area. I should be able to get those exact numbers for the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe we had a successful season. Prior to me getting this portfolio, there was a contract awarded to a local contractor, along with Aboriginal groups, in the region to rehabilitate this Highway No. 6. They have been continually working on specifically kilometre 42 to 62. That work began late November of 2015 and was completed up the last year. This year moving forward we want to rehabilitate 14 kilometres of that highway and continue to invest in it, and application of chipseal will be part of that as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, our government has made commitments in its mandate to investigate and implement renewable and alternative energy solutions, explore the potential for the development of hydroelectric power and transmission lines, and develop wind and solar energies to replace diesel. Transitioning away from expensive fossil fuels for home heating and electricity generation will be critical for reducing the cost of living for residents and protecting the NWT environment.

Today I would like to provide Members with an update on some of the energy initiatives being undertaken by our government to...

The Member is correct. There are a number of concerns on this act moving forward, including the one I mentioned with the Tlicho Government. The Premier has asked the federal government to turn that legislation over to us so we can deal with it in our own manner for our own territory for our people, and those discussions are ongoing moving forward.

Duly noted from the Member's suggestions. We can look into those sorts of things. I think one of the other things that maybe we can start looking into is similar to what we did in Hay River with the crosswalk situation. We had the digital signs posted on the highway, and we tried to relay as much information that way as well before people leave the communities.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ferry operations are dependent mainly on water levels. Water levels can be too high to make it safe; water levels can be too low to make it safe. That is the main criteria of operating the ferry, to get vehicles and people across it safely. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.